Simulations of low-temperature annealing of crystal surfaces

The decay of sinusoidal grooves on solid surfaces due to surface diffusion is studied using Monte Carlo simulations of a (2 + 1)-dimensional solid-on-solid model, focusing on the decay kinetics at temperatures below the equilibrium roughening transition temperature T-R. We find that the surface relaxation initially follows an exponential decay with a characteristic time that scales as the fourth power of the grooves' wavelength. The scaling behavior breaks down after cusps acid plateaus of a sufficient size develop at the top and bottom of the profile. The time needed for the surface to reach this breakdown point decreases sharply with decreasing temperature below T-R to the extent that the exponential region is too small to be observable in simulations for temperature below about 2T(R)/3. We also present simulation results that show the effect of a surface tilt on the relaxation kinetics.