Computer study of the physical properties of a copper film on a heated graphene surface

The structural, kinetic, and mechanical properties of a copper film deposited on single-layer and two-layer graphenes have been studied in a molecular-dynamics model in the temperature range 300 K $\le T\le$ 3300 K. The film sizes are reduced in the “zigzag” direction more slowly than in the “armchair” direction. The differences have been found to appear in the behavior of copper atoms on single-layer and two-layer graphenes with increasing temperature. Copper atoms on the two-layer graphene have higher horizontal mobility over entire temperature range. However, Cu atoms on the single-layer graphene become more mobile in the vertical direction beginning from a temperature of $\sim$1500 K. The stress tensor components of the copper film characterizing the action of forces on the horizontal areas have a sharp extremum at $T$ = 1800 K in the case of the single-layer graphene and are characterized by quite smooth behavior in the case of the two-layer graphene.