Effect of kink-rounding barriers on step edge fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how kink-rounding barriers influence equilibrium step edge fluctuations, revealing that these barriers significantly affect fluctuation dynamics and interpreting experimental data with a corrected theoretical approach.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical and simulation-based analysis of kink-rounding barriers' effects on step fluctuations, correcting previous assumptions about diffusion relations.

Findings

Fluctuation behavior follows a t^{1/4} power law with temperature-dependent prefactors.

Arrhenius behavior of the prefactor depends on the relative magnitude of E_{kr} and epsilon.

The Einstein relation for step edge diffusion does not hold, affecting experimental interpretations.

Abstract

The effect that an additional energy barrier E_{kr} for step adatoms moving around kinks has on equilibrium step edge fluctuations is explored using scaling arguments and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. When mass transport is through step edge diffusion, the time correlation function of the step fluctuations behaves as C(t) = A(T) t^{1/4}. At low temperatures the prefactor A(T) shows Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy (E_{det} + 3 epsilon)/4 if E_{kr} < epsilon and (E_{det} + E_{kr} + 2 epsilon)/4 if E_{kr} > epsilon, where epsilon is the kink energy and E_{det} is the barrier for detachment of a step adatom from a kink. We point out that the assumption of an Einstein relation for step edge diffusion has lead to an incorrect interpretation of step fluctuation experiments, and explain why such a relation does not hold. The theory is applied to experimental results on Pt(111) and Cu(100).