Related papers: Nonlinear dynamics of surface steps
We analyze the dynamics of crystal surfaces in the presence of electromigration. From a phase field model with a migration force which depends on the local geometry, we derive a step model with additional contributions in the kinetic…
We report new results on the non-conserved dynamics of parallel steps on vicinal surfaces in the case of sublimation with electromigration and step-step interactions. The derived equations are valid in the quasistatic approximation and in…
Two kinds of configurations involving steps on surfaces are reviewed. The first one results from an initially planar vicinal surface, i.e. slightly deviating from a high-symmetry (001) or (111) orientation. In some cases, these surfaces…
As a departure from existing continuum approaches for describing the stability and evolution of surfaces of crystalline materials, this article provides a description of surface evolution based on the physics of the main feature imposed by…
A sublimating vicinal crystal surface can undergo a step bunching instability when the attachment-detachment kinetics is asymmetric, in the sense of a normal Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect. Here we investigate this instability in a model that…
The steps at the crystal surfaces could be transparent for the migrating adatoms. In the case of significant transparency the velocity of a given step in a given moment is affected by detachment of atoms from rather distant steps in rather…
This paper investigates faceting mechanisms induced by electromigration in the regime where atomic steps are transparent. For this purpose we study several vicinal orientations by means of in-situ (optical diffraction, electronic…
Step meandering due to a deterministic morphological instability on vicinal surfaces during growth is studied. We investigate nonlinear dynamics of a step model with asymmetric step kinetics, terrace and line diffusion, by means of a…
We propose a one-dimensional model based on the Burton-Cabrera-Frank equations to describe the electromigration-induced step bunching instability on vicinal surfaces. The step drift resulting from atomic evaporation and/or deposition is…
We studied the step dynamics during sublimation and growth in the presence of electromigration force acting on the adatoms. In the limit of fast surface diffusion and slow kinetics of atom attachment-detachment at the steps we formulate a…
The dynamics of steps on crystal surfaces is considered. In general, the meandering of the steps obeys a subdiffusive behaviour. The characteristic asymptotic time laws depend on the microscopic mechanism for detachment and attachment of…
We report on the control of the faceting of crystal surfaces by means of surface electromigration. When electromigration reinforces the faceting instability, we find perpetual coarsening with a wavelength increasing as $t^{1/2}$. For…
We study the effect of a constant electrical field applied on vicinal surfaces such as the Si$(111)$ surface. An electrical field parallel to the steps induces a meandering instability with a nonzero phase shift. Using the…
We propose a novel approach to continuum modeling of the dynamics of crystal surfaces. Our model follows the evolution of an ensemble of step configurations, which are consistent with the macroscopic surface profile. Contrary to the usual…
The morphology of a growing crystal surface is studied in the case of an unstable two-dimensional step flow. Competition between bunching and meandering of steps leads to a variety of patterns characterized by their respective instability…
The quasistatic approximation is a useful but questionable simplification for analyzing step instabilities during the growth/evaporation of vicinal surfaces. Using this approximation, we characterized in Part I of this work the effect on…
Coarse-grained modeling of dynamics on vicinal surfaces concentrates on the diffusion of adatoms on terraces with boundary conditions at sharp steps, as first studied by Burton, Cabrera and Frank (BCF). Recent electromigration experiments…
We study the step bunching kinetic instability in a growing crystal surface characterized by anisotropic diffusion. The instability is due to the interplay between the elastic interactions and the alternation of step parameters. This…
The shape evolution of two-dimensional islands through periphery diffusion biased by an electromigration force is studied numerically using a continuum approach. We show that the introduction of crystal anisotropy in the mobility of edge…
This paper provides an elementary introduction to the basic concepts used in describing epitaxial crystal growth in terms of the thermodynamics and kinetics of atomic steps. Selected applications to morphological instabilities of stepped…