By combining high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we show that carbon nanoislands formed during the growth of a long-range ordered graphene layer on Ir(111) assume a peculiar domelike shape. The understanding of the unusual growth mechanism of these C clusters, which represent an intermediate phase between the strongly coupled carbidic carbon and a quasi-free-standing graphene layer, can provide information for a rational design of graphenelike systems at the nanoscale.

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We report measurements of the sound attenuation coefficient in vitreous silica, for sound waves of wavelength between 50 and 80 nm, performed with the new inelastic UV light scattering technique. These data indicate that in silica glass a crossover between a temperature-dependent (at low frequency) and a temperature-independent (at high frequency) acoustic attenuation mechanism occurs at Q 0:15 nm ÿ1 . The absence of any signature in the static structure factor at this Q value suggests that the observed crossover should be associated with local elastic constant fluctuations. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.035501 PACS numbers: 61.43.Fs, 63.50.+x The sound attenuation in disordered materials and its frequency and wavelength dependence are the result of the interplay between two physical mechanisms: one is due to the anharmonicity of the interparticle interactions, and the other to the structural disorder.The anharmonic attenuation of an acoustic sound wave, identified by its wavelength , frequency , and wave vector Q 2 = , is characterized by a specific, temperature-dependent, relaxation time r [1]. At low frequency (! r < 1) this process dominates the sound absorption through mechanisms such as, e.g., the Akhiezer mechanism [2,3]. Accordingly, the sound attenuation coefficient, as measured by the broadening ÿ of the Brillouin peak in the dynamic structure factor S Q; ! , scales as ! 2 and Q 2 . At high frequency ÿ! r > 1, i.e., Q > Q r 1=v r , where v is the sound velocity, the anharmonic attenuation becomes frequency independent [1][2][3].The sound attenuation associated with topological disorder gives rise to a steeper Q dependence of ÿ Q . If Rayleigh scattering is responsible for this attenuation, ÿ / Q 4 is expected for wavelengths larger than the typical defects size 2 =Q R . For Q > Q R , when the Rayleigh scattering regime is abandoned, one expects that ÿ Q is no longer / Q 4 . Experimentally, for Q larger than 1 nm ÿ1 , all glasses studied so far show ÿ / Q x , with x very close to 2 [4,5].This scenario can be summarized by a three-regime behavior of ÿ Q : (i) at low Q, ÿ Q is determined by anharmonic processes, and ÿ Q / Q 2 up to a first (temperature-dependent) crossover Q r 1=v r ; (ii) an intermediate regime, where the Q dependence of ÿ Q is determined by the system dependent strengths of anharmonicity and structural disorder processes; (iii) a high-Q regime, where ÿ Q is determined by the topological disorder and ÿ Q / Q 2 with a temperature-independent coefficient. This picture is highly debated because it critically depends on the location of Q r and Q R in different glasses. In densified v-SiO 2 , for example, the crossover Q R has been hypothesized to be around 2 nm ÿ1 [6].In the most studied case of vitreous silica, similarly to what happens in many other glasses, both Q r and Q R belong to a Q region which is not directly accessed by traditional scattering probes. In the case of v-SiO 2 , clear evidence is reported for the low-and high-Q quadratic behaviors of ÿ Q , using Brillouin light scat...

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