Surface morphology and a dynamic scaling analysis in epitaxial growth: A kinetic Monte Carlo study

Abstract

We use Kinetic Monte-Carlo (KMC) simulations based on the solid-on-solid model to see the evolution of the surface morphology for different materials. We have performed a qualitative and quantitative study of the homo-epitaxial growth for (Cu, Co, Ge, and GaAs) over a large range of temperature, varying between 300 K and 700 K. Based on the growth morphology, we found two sets of materials. This classification is also confirmed by the analysis of their dynamic scaling properties (measurements of the critical exponents derived from the height–height correlation functions). Our results were compared to the available experimental and theoretical results and seem advantageous for the understanding of the growth dynamics. Different atomistic mechanisms may intervene in favoring adatoms attachment to surface steps. Here we have focused on the effect of the Ehrlich–Schwoebel barrier. However, we discussed how the magnitude of this barrier affects the scaling exponents as well as the surface morphology.