Phase-field approximation of an epitaxial growth model with adatoms

TL;DR

This paper develops a phase-field approximation for modeling epitaxial growth of thin films, incorporating adatom density as a key variable, within a mass-constrained elastic framework.

Contribution

It introduces a novel phase-field model that captures epitaxial growth with adatom dynamics under elastic constraints.

Findings

Provides a mass-constrained phase-field approximation for epitaxial growth.

Encodes adatom density as a variable on the film's free surface.

Models elastic effects in thin film growth.

Abstract

We perform a mass constrained phase-field approximation for a model that describes the epitaxial growth of a two-dimensional thin film on a substrate in the context of linearised elasticity. The approximated model encodes a variable on the free surface of the film, that physically is interpreted as an adatom density.