Slope selection of mounds with permeable steps in homoepitaxy

We study the growth of mounds representing stacks of monolayer islands in homoepitaxy assuming terrace-edge-kink mechanism of attachment of atoms to kink sites and allowing a permeability of the single steps. We show that the latter can result in slope selection of the growing mounds at comparativel...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe European physical journal. B, Condensed matter physics Vol. 86; no. 2
Main Authors Korutcheva, Elka, Koroutchev, Kostadin, Markov, Ivan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.02.2013
EDP Sciences
Springer
Subjects
Complex Systems
Condensed Matter Physics
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology
Epitaxy
Exact sciences and technology
Fluid- and Aerodynamics
Materials science
Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy
Monomolecular films
Permeability
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Regular Article
Solid State Physics
Theory and models of film growth
Solid State and Materials
Ultrathin films
Homoepitaxy
Stacking sequence
Growth mechanism
Boundary conditions
Diffusion
Island structure
Schwoebel effect
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We study the growth of mounds representing stacks of monolayer islands in homoepitaxy assuming terrace-edge-kink mechanism of attachment of atoms to kink sites and allowing a permeability of the single steps. We show that the latter can result in slope selection of the growing mounds at comparatively small values of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier to down-step diffusion. The value of the permeability coefficient at which a slope selection occurs is always very close to the upper limit for complete step permeability. The latter is in agreement with the row-by-row mechanism of step propagation at which the steps are kink-free for most of the time.
ISSN:1434-6028
1434-6036
DOI:10.1140/epjb/e2012-30884-4