AVS 46th International Symposium
    Surface Science Division Thursday Sessions
       Session SS1+EM+NS-ThA

Paper SS1+EM+NS-ThA7
Edge Diffusion During Growth: Kink Ehrlich-Schwoebel Effect and Resulting Instabilities@footnote 1@

Thursday, October 28, 1999, 4:00 pm, Room 606

Session: Metal/Metal Growth
Presenter: T.L. Einstein, University of Maryland
Authors: O. Pierre-Louis, Univ. J. Fourier (CNRS), France
T.L. Einstein, University of Maryland
Correspondent: Click to Email
In addition to the usual step Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect (SESE) on typical metal and semiconductor surfaces, there can also be a kink Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect (KESE), associated with asymmetries in barriers at kinks/corners encountered by atoms during transport along step edges.@footnote 2@ We take into account both phenomena to study the evolution of arbitrarily oriented surfaces during molecular beam epitaxy. We find that the heretofore rarely discussed@footnote 3@ KESE has a profound effect on growth morphology. Under the usual growth conditions, KESE induces a new instability of vicinal surfaces, supplanting the familiar Bales-Zangwill instability@footnote 4@ due exclusively to SESE. The possibility of stable kink flow growth is analyzed; fluctuations can shift the stability threshold. For some orientations, KESE can stabilize steps. KESE can also induce mound formation. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@Work supported by NSF MRSEC grant DMR 96-32521. @footnote 2@ O. Pierre-Louis, M. R. D'Orsogna, and T. L. Einstein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 3661; note also M. V. Ramana Murty and B. H. Cooper, preprint. @footnote 3@ See, however, I. L. Aleiner and R. A. Suris, Sov. Phys. Solid State 34 (1992) 809; Z. Zhang and M. G. Lagally, Science 276 (1997) 377; J. G. Amar, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 43 (1998) 851 and to be published. @footnote 4@ G.S. Bales and A. Zangwill, Phys. Rev. B 41 (1990) 5500.