Evaporation of silicon nanoparticles under scanning tunneling microscope control

•We describe the heating and evaporation of spherical nanoparticles under the STM influence.•In experiment several layers of Si nanoparticles were deposited on a HOPG surface.•Some interesting kinetic features of evaporation are predicted and discussed.•The results of simulations are in qualitative agreement with the experimental data.

A kinetic model is developed to describe the heating and evaporation of a spherical nanoparticle under the influence of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Simulations were performed for silicon nanoparticles of different sizes and for different STM parameters. Different kinetic features of evaporation are predicted and discussed. The lifetime of the nanoparticles is estimated and compared with original experimental data obtained for layers of silicon nanoparticles formed upon magnetron sputtering and deposited on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface (HOPG).

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