Nonlinear properties of fractal growth of thin films at low temperature

Abstract

Fractal growth of thin films at low temperature (75–200 K) is simulated by kinetic Monte Carlo method, using realistic growth model — Ag on Pt(111) surface and physical parameters. It is shown that the fractal growth of thin films is nonlinear, i. e., the island size S( t) grows with time t as t k , where the growth exponent k is slightly less than 1 because of the growth competition of islands and the competition between nucleation and growth of islands. The further results indicate that the branch width of islands b increases with increasing island size Sas b ≈ S α , where α is approximately equal to 1 3 because of the geometrical structure of the triangular substrate.