SELF-CONSISTENT RATE-EQUATION APPROACH TO TRANSITIONS IN CRITICAL ISLAND SIZE IN METAL(100) AND METAL(111) HOMOEPITAXY

A self-consistent rate-equation approach to the study of transitions i n the critical island size i in submonolayer growth from i = 1 to i = 2 and from i = 1 to i = 3, corresponding to homoepitaxial growth on me tal(111) and (100) surfaces, is presented. In contrast to previous sta ndard rate-equation results, the average island density and monomer de nsity are well predicted along with the transition temperature from i = 1 to a higher critical island size. It is shown that the method's im plicit short-range correlations belween attachment/ detachment rates, together with a careful estimate bf the escape rates for small cluster s, are important factors for a good agreement with the kinetic Monte C arlo simulation results. [S0163-1829(98)00227-6].