Scaling and Coarsening in Epitaxial Growth

Abstract

AbstractThe results of recent theoretical and simulational studies of submonolayer and multilayer homoepitaxial growth are discussed. In the submonolayer regime, the results of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are presented and shown to provide a quantitative explanation for the variation of the submonolayer island density, critical island size, island-size distribution and morphology as a function of temperature and deposition rate found in recent experiments. In multilayer growth, a realistic model for homoepitaxial growth on fcc and bcc lattices which takes into account the correct crystal structure is reviewed. The effects of instabilities which lead to mound formation and coarsening are discussed and a unified picture of the effects of attractive and repulsive interactions at ascending and descending steps on surface morphology and island nucleation is presented. An accurate prediction of the observed mound angle for Fe/Fe(100) deposition is obtained analytically and by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The general dependence of the mound angle, and mound coarsening behavior on temperature, deposition rate, and strength of the step barrier in bcc(100) and fcc(100) growth is also presented and compared with recent experiments.