MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF EPITAXIAL METAL GROWTH - NUCLEATION AND AGGREGATION

Thin films are often grown away from thermodynamic equilibrium and the ir morphology becomes determined by kinetics. The final structure of t he epitaxial film is decided in the very early stage of submonolayer n ucleation and island growth. Recent experiments with scanning tunnelin g microscopy opened up an unprecedented view of this early stage of ep itaxial growth. Variable sample temperatures enabled quantification of the rates of the most important atomic diffusion events and tracing b ack their interplay yielding the final submonolayer morphology. The pr esent understanding of nucleation and aggregation in light of these ne w experimental results is reviewed for the case of metals. Examples ar e given how the growth kinetics can be employed to create well-defined island morphologies and island arrays in a self-organization process. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.