DIFFERENT REGIMES IN THE EHRLICH-SCHWOEBEL INSTABILITY

A one-dimensional high-symmetry growing surface in presence of step-ed ge barriers is studied numerically and analytically, through a discret e/continuous model which neglects thermal detachment from steps. The m orphology of the film at different times and/or different sizes of the sample is analyzed in the overall range of possible step-edge barrier s: for a small barrier, we have a strong up-down asymmetry of the inte rface, and a coarsening process with an increasing size of mounds - ta kes place; at high barriers no coarsening exists, and for infinite bar riers the up-down symmetry is asymptotically recovered. The transition between the two regimes occurs when the so-called Schwoebel length is of order of the diffusion length.