Distribution of atomic chain lengths: Effect of local temperature profile

• A method is proposed for creating well-ordered arrays of nanochains on vicinal surfaces. • The influence of the temperature gradient on the lengths of the nanochains is shown. • The size distribution of chains changes during annealing and cooling. A challenging aim of current research in one-dimensional physics is the search for optimal conditions for the formation of well-ordered chains. The effect of local temperature profile was investigated using large-scale kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. It was found that well-ordered long chains are formed in the presence of a temperature gradient in the sample near the critical temperature. Furthermore, it was shown how the size distribution of chains changes during annealing and cooling. The observed change mechanism of the chain length during the annealing or cooling will be useful in industry for creating atomic chains with a given length.