Scaling, percolation and coarsening in epitaxial thin film growth

The results of recent theoretical and simulational studies of submonolayer and multilayer homoepitaxial growth is discussed. In the submonolayer regime, the results provide a quantitative explanation for the variation of the island density, critical island size island morphology and size distribution and island coalescence and percolation as a function of temperature and deposition rate. In multilayer growth, a realistic model for homoepitaxial growth on fee and bcc lattices is presented which takes into account the correct crystal structure. The effects of instabilities which lead to mound formation and coarsening are discussed. An accurate prediction of the observed mound angle for Fe/Fe(1 0 0) deposition is obtained analytically and by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The general dependence of the mound angle, and mound coarsening behavior on temperature, deposition rate, and strength of the step barrier in bcc(1 0 0) and fcc(1 0 0) growth is also presented and compared with recent experiments. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.