A novel method to determine the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier

The homoepitaxial growth of Cu on Cu(0 0 1) has been investigated with low- energy electron microscopy (LEEM). The temporal evolution of engineered pyr amid-like structures has been monitored for a range of incident Cu fluxes a nd substrate temperatures. The step velocities have been analyzed in the fr amework of a novel growth model that contains as the only adjustable parame ter the height of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barrier. The simultaneous desc ription of all step velocities observed within the flux and temperature ran ge covered by our experiments determines the height of the ES barrier to ab out 125 meV in this system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.