Computer simulation of ledge formation and ledge interaction for the silicon (111) free surface

Abstract

Both strip and triangular clusters, composed of <2 11 > ledges, have been simulated on the Si (111) surface. The long range ledge-ledge interaction and the surface stress tensor distribution have been evaluated for these two pill-box geometries using a semi-empirical potential energy function that incorporates both two-body and three-body contributions. The consequences of the ledge-ledge interaction on two-dimensional nucleation for Si (111) has been evaluated as a function of Si adatom supersaturation and shown to differ significantly from conventional theory where such interaction is neglected.