https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50327-6
Regular Article
Scaling properties of pyramidal islands formation process at epitaxial growth
1 Institute of Applied Physics,
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlovskaya St., 40000
Sumy,
Ukraine
2 Sumy State University,
2 Rimskii-Korsakov
St., 40007
Sumy,
Ukraine
a e-mail: vasiliy@ipfcentr.sumy.ua
Received:
21
May
2014
Received in final form:
18
September
2014
Published online:
2
January
2015
We study scaling properties of the surface morphology at epitaxial growth in a generalized phase-field model by taking into account dynamics of the adsorbate temperature. We have found that growth processes are defined by a set of roughness and growth exponents. It is shown that the growth rate of the averaged mean area of islands can be controlled by deposition flux, interaction strength of adsorbate and time scale for the temperature relaxation. We have shown, that both number of islands and average island size behave in a power-law form over exposing time. We have discussed two different numerical approaches allowing one to determine the distribution function of islands over sizes. Obtained distributions are universal and do not change with variation in main system parameters.
Key words: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2015