Using temperature to tune film roughness: nonintuitive behavior in a simple system

Ag(100) homoepitaxy constitutes one of the simplest systems in which to study thin-film growth. Yet we find that the roughness variation with temperature is extraordinarily complex. Specifically, as the deposition temperature is reduced from 300 to 50 K, the roughness of 25 monolayer films first inc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 85; no. 4; p. 800
Main Authors Stoldt, CR, Caspersen, KJ, Bartelt, MC, Jenks, CJ, Evans, JW, Thiel, PA
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 24.07.2000
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Ag(100) homoepitaxy constitutes one of the simplest systems in which to study thin-film growth. Yet we find that the roughness variation with temperature is extraordinarily complex. Specifically, as the deposition temperature is reduced from 300 to 50 K, the roughness of 25 monolayer films first increases, then decreases, then increases again. A transition from mound formation to self-affine (semifractal) growth occurs at approximately 135 K. The underlying mechanisms are postulated. An atomistic model incorporating these mechanisms reproduces the experimental data quantitatively.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.800