Related papers: Influence of adatom interactions on second layer n…
Using event-driven kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations we investigate the early stage of non-equilibrium surface growth in a generic model with anisotropic interactions among the adsorbed particles. Specifically, we consider a two-dimensional…
In this thesis we present a kinetic Monte Carlo model for the description of epitaxial graphene growth. Experimental results suggest a growth mechanism by which clusters of 5 carbon atoms are an intermediate species necessary for nucleation…
We study the rate of activated motion over multiple barriers, in particular the correlated double-jump of an adatom diffusing on a missing-row reconstructed Platinum (110) surface. We develop a Transition Path Theory, showing that the…
The effect that an additional energy barrier E_{kr} for step adatoms moving around kinks has on equilibrium step edge fluctuations is explored using scaling arguments and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. When mass transport is through step…
The nucleation and growth of two--dimensional islands is studied with Monte Carlo simulations of a pair--bond solid--on--solid model of epitaxial growth. The conventional description of this problem in terms of a well--defined critical…
The effect of impurities on epitaxial growth in the submonolayer regime is studied using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of a two-species solid-on-solid growth model. Both species are mobile, and attractive interactions among adatoms and…
The decay of hexagonal Ag adatom islands on top of larger Ag adatom islands on a Ag(111) surface is followed by a fast scanning tunneling microscope. Islands do not always show the expected increase in decay rate with decreasing island…
An extended elastic eigenvector approach had earlier been developed to interpret ab-initio calculations of adatom interactions. It shows oscillating interactions as well as trio- and quarto (multisite) terms within clusters. It is now…
The effects of adsorbates on nucleation and growth of two-dimensional islands is investigated by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and rate equation theory. The variation of island morphology with adsorbate parameters is discussed and the…
Since metallic surface states on (111) noble metals are free-electron like, their propagators can be evaluated analytically. Since they are well-screened, one can use simple tight-binding formalism to study their effects. The needed phase…
An analytical model for the evolution of the boundary of the new phase in transformations ruled by nucleation and growth is presented. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation have been considered: The former includes transformations…
We investigate the growth of a film of some element B on a substrate made of another substrance A in a model of molecular beam epitaxy. A vertical exchange mechanism allows the A-atoms to stay on the growing surface with a certain…
Graphene, a flat monolayer of carbon atoms packed tightly into a two dimensional hexagonal lattice, has unusual electronic properties which have many promising nanoelectronic applications. Recent Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM)…
A direct observation of nucleation of Ge hut clusters formed by ultrahigh vacuum molecular beam epitaxy is reported for the first time. The nuclei of the pyramidal and wedge-like clusters have been observed on the wetting layer blocks and…
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…
An extended elastic eigenvector approach for adatom interactions is applied to model Nitrogen c(2x2) Atom islands on Cu(001). Oscillating interactions between adatom monomers or dimers are considered. Attractive pair interactions of adatoms…
Homogeneous nucleation of the new phase of one transition near a second phase transition is considered. The system has two phase transitions, we study the nucleation of the new phase of one of these transitions under conditions such that we…
Phase transitions ruled by nucleation and growth can occur by nonrandom arrangement of nuclei. This is verified, for instance, in thin film growth at solid surfaces by vapor condensation or by electrodeposition where, around each nucleus, a…
Reactive dopant atoms embedded in inert host metal surfaces define the active sites in single-atom alloys (SAAs), yet SAA synthesis remains challenging. To address this, we elucidate how dopant adatoms deposited on Cu and Ag surfaces become…
Several aspects of the theory of epitaxial crystal growth from atomic or molecular beams are developed from the perspective of statistical physics. Lectures are devoted to the rate equation theory of two-dimensional nucleation and its…