Related papers: Irreversible nucleation in molecular beam epitaxy:…
We study irreversible dimer nucleation on top of terraces during epitaxial growth in one and two dimensions, for all values of the step-edge barrier. The problem is solved exactly by transforming it into a first passage problem for a random…
The epitaxial growth process of a high symmetry surface occurs because adatoms meet and nucleate new islands, that eventually coalesce and complete atomic layers. During multilayer growth, nucleation usually takes place on top of terraces…
The formation of stable dimers on top of terraces during epitaxial growth is investigated in detail. In this paper we focus on mean-field theory, the standard approach to study nucleation. Such theory is shown to be unsuitable for the…
We consider irreversible second-layer nucleation that occurs when two adatoms on a terrace meet. We solve the problem analytically in one dimension for zero and infinite step-edge barriers, and numerically for any value of the barriers in…
We develop a theory of nucleation on top of two-dimensional islands bordered by steps with an additional energy barrier $\Delta E_S$ for descending atoms. The theory is based on the concept of the residence time of an adatom on the…
Frank's prediction of the spiral growth mode in 1949 defined a pivotal moment in the history of crystal growth. In recent decades the topic has received less attention, and instead we have seen a resurrection of two-dimensional nucleation…
Normal incidence ion irradiation at elevated temperatures, when amorphization is prevented, induces novel nanoscale patterns of crystalline structures on elemental semiconductors by a reverse epitaxial growth mechanism: on Ge surfaces…
The random deposition model must be enriched to reflect the variety of surface roughness due to some material characteristics of the film growing by vacuum deposition or sputtering. The essence of the computer simulation in this case is to…
The formation of three-dimensional structures during the epitaxial growth of films is associated to the reflection of diffusing particles in descending terraces due to the presence of the so-called Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barrier. We…
The rate of second layer nucleation -- the formation of a stable nucleus on top of a two-dimensional island -- determines both the conditions for layer-by-layer growth, and the size of the top terrace of multilayer mounds in…
We consider the effect of nucleation on a one-dimensional stepped surface, finding that step-flow growth is metastable for any strength of the additional step-edge barrier. The surface is made unstable by the formation of a critical…
Nucleation of a new phase almost always starts at a surface. This surface is almost always assumed not to change with time. However, surfaces can roughen, partially dissolve and change chemically with time. Each of these irreversible…
The energetically driven Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barrier had been generally accepted as the primary cause of the growth instability in the form of quasi-regular mound-like structures observed on the surface of thin film grown via molecular…
We study the behavior of single atoms on an infinite vicinal surface assuming certain degree of step permeability. Assuming complete lack of re-evaporation an ruling out nucleation the atoms will inevitably join kink sites at the steps but…
The coverage of vicinal, stepped surfaces with molecules is simulated with the help of a two-dimensional Ising model including local distortions and an Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier term at the steps. An effective two-spin model is capable to…
The basic physics of nucleation in solid \hl{single-crystal} nanoparticles is revealed by a phase-field theory that includes surface energy, chemical reactions and coherency strain. In contrast to binary fluids, which form arbitrary contact…
A solid-on-solid model of epitaxial growth in 1+1 dimensions is investigated in which slope dependent upward and downward particle currents compete on the surface. The microscopic mechanisms which give rise to these currents are the…
The thermodynamics of strongly anisotropic crystalline surfaces is analogous to that of a binary mixture exhibiting phase separation. On a metastable planar surface, formation of stable orientations requires a nucleation process, in which…
The formation of mounded surfaces in epitaxial growth is attributed to the presence of barriers against interlayer diffusion in the terrace edges, known as Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers. We investigate a model for epitaxial growth using a…
The coarsening dynamics of three-dimensional islands on a growing film is discussed. It is assumed that the origin of the initial instability of a planar surface is the Ehrlich-Schwoebel step-edge barrier for adatom diffusion. Two…