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Nanophysics

A step up to self-assembly

Powerful computer simulations have resolved the mechanism for the nanoscale assembly of the ‘hut’-like clusters that form after a few layers of atoms have been deposited on certain solid surfaces.

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Figure 1: Step-climbing and hut-building.

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Fichthorn, K., Scheffler, M. A step up to self-assembly. Nature 429, 617–618 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429617a

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