MOUND FORMATION, COARSENING AND INSTABILITIES IN EPITAXIAL, GROWTH

An introductory review of the central ideas in the kinetics of multila yer epitaxial growth is presented. A realistic model for multilayer ho moepitaxial growth on fcc(100) and bcc(100) surfaces which takes into account the correct crystal structure is discussed. The effects of ins tabilities which lead to mound formation and coarsening are discussed, and a unified picture of the effects of attractive and repulsive inte ractions at ascending and descending steps on surface morphology and i sland nucleation is presented. An accurate prediction of the observed mound angle for Fe/Fe(100) deposition is obtained analytically and by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The general dependence of the mound a ngle and mound coarsening behavior on the temperature, deposition rate and strength of the step barrier in bcc(100) and fcc(100) growth is a lso presented, and compared with recent experiments.