Strain dependence for microscopic growth parameters for Ag on Ag(100)

Abstract

I use density functional theory to study the strain dependence of microscopic growth parameters for the growth of Ag on Ag(100). Results are presented for the energy barrier for adatom diffusion, diffusion of adatoms along a step edge, detachment of atoms from a step edge, and dissociation of a dimer. Over a certain range of misfit values, these parameters vary almost linearly with strain. The most surprising result is a qualitatively different behavior for detachment of an atom from a step edge and dimer dissociation.