Growth of clusters on surfaces: Monte Carlo simulations and scaling properties

The Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method is widely used to study the growth of islands on surfaces. The growth behaviour is characterized by the scaling p roperties of the island size distribution and its time evolution. Two stage s of growth are considered: the diffusion and aggregation regime (at less t han about 30% coverage), and a coalescence model relevant to higher coverag e. It is shown how details of the growth processes revealed by the KMC simu lations can be coupled with scaling ideas to provide a proper understanding of the island size statistics and their time dependence fur both regimes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.