Emergence of local geometric laws of step flow in homoepitaxial growth

TL;DR

This paper analytically derives nonlinear local geometric laws governing step flow in homoepitaxial growth, revealing universal connections between step kinetics and surface geometry under various physical processes.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical framework linking step motion to local geometric features using boundary integral equations and asymptotic analysis in homoepitaxy.

Findings

Derivation of nonlinear laws depending on curvature and terrace widths

Identification of universal relations between step kinetics and geometry

Inclusion of multiple physical processes like diffusion, evaporation, and attachment

Abstract

Below the roughening transition, crystal surfaces exhibit nanoscale line defects, steps, that move by exchanging atoms with their environment. In homoepitaxy, we analytically show how the motion of a step train in vacuum under strong desorption can be approximately described by nonlinear laws that depend on local geometric features such as the curvature of each step, as well as suitably defined effective terrace widths. We assume that each step edge, a free boundary, can be represented by a smooth curve in a fixed reference plane for sufficiently long times. Besides surface diffusion and evaporation, the processes under consideration include kinetic step-step interactions in slowly varying geometries, material deposition on the surface from above, attachment and detachment of atoms at steps, step edge diffusion, and step permeability. Our methodology relies on boundary integral equations for the adatom fluxes responsible for step flow. By applying asymptotics, which effectively treat the diffusive term of the free boundary problem as a singular perturbation, we describe an intimate connection of universal character between step kinetics and local geometry.