ATOMISTIC MECHANISM OF SURFACTANT-ASSISTED EPITAXIAL-GROWTH

Citation
J. Camarero et al., ATOMISTIC MECHANISM OF SURFACTANT-ASSISTED EPITAXIAL-GROWTH, Physical review letters, 81(4), 1998, pp. 850-853
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
ISSN journal
00319007
Volume
81
Issue
4
Year of publication
1998
Pages
850 - 853
Database
ISI
SICI code
0031-9007(1998)81:4<850:AMOSE>2.0.ZU;2-O
Abstract
Experiments and simulations on the effect of a surfactant on atomic di ffusion are presented. Cu adatoms deposited on a Cu(111) surface cover ed with a monolayer of Pb quickly get buried and diffuse under the Pb layer by exchanging sites with other Cu atoms from the substrate. The surfactant induces layer-by-layer growth by suppressing the hopping me chanism of diffusion over the terraces and promoting atomic exchange, both at the terraces and across the steps. This mechanism may be rathe r general: and has profound implications for the synthesis of artifici al materials.