Dewetted Pt nanostructures on Silicon Carbide surface

We exploit the thermal-induced dewetting process of a deposited Pt film to produce two-dimensional arrays of Pt nanostructures on SiC surface. After depositing 7.5 nm-thick Pt film on SiC, we performed annealings increasing the temperature from 773 to 1073 K. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy analyses were crossed to draw information on the chemical and morphological evolution of the Pt film increasing the annealing temperature. The gradual evolution of the Pt film, due to the ongoing dewetting process, from a holed film to a web of Pt filaments connecting Pt agglomerates and to, finally, isolated shaped nanostructures was observed. The Pt film surface roughness, fraction of uncovered surface area by the metal film, mean height and mean planar size of the dewetted nanostructures were quantified versus the annealing temperature to extract quantitative information on the main parameters characterizing the dewetting process and the nanostructures morphology.