ON THE SHAPE OF THE IN-PHASE TEAS OSCILLATIONS DURING EPITAXIAL-GROWTH OF PT(111)

The growth of Pt(111) from its vapour phase is investigated by means of TEAS (thermal energy atom scattering) in a wide range of substrate temperatures: 100-800 K. The evolution of the in-phase He specular peak height during Pt deposition is studied in particular. At higher substrate temperatures (T(s) > 500 K), the in-phase peak height exhibits longlived temporal oscillations with a clearly asymmetric shape. This asymmetry, which increases with temperature, reveals substantial coarsening of the adatom islands during monolayer deposition, most likely due to Ostwald ripening processes.