GROWTH-KINETICS OF THE PT(111) SURFACE DURING LOW-TEMPERATURE VACUUM DEPOSITION

The competition between advancement of monatomic steps and two-dimensional nucleation on the (111)-face of platinum during vacuum deposition in the temperature range of 130 to 400 K has been considered under the assumptions that nucleation follows a "non-classical" mechanism and layer propagation is controlled by surface diffusion. Previous experimental results [M. Alnot, J.J. Ehrhardt and J.A. Barnard, Surface Sci. 208 (1989) 285] showing that at temperatures of about 400 K the surface between steps remains atomically smooth during growth, while at the temperature of 130 K the surface becomes kinetically rough, are thus interpreted. © 1990.