On the role of step-flow advection during electromigration-induced step bunching

TL;DR

This paper introduces a one-dimensional model to analyze electromigration-induced step bunching on vicinal surfaces, highlighting how evaporation and deposition influence stability and step dynamics.

Contribution

It presents a novel model incorporating step drift from evaporation and deposition, revealing stability inversions and stabilization effects during electromigration.

Findings

Stability inversions occur as evaporation rate varies.

Deposition flux stabilizes the step bunching instability.

The model captures the effects of atom evaporation and deposition on surface morphology.

Abstract

We propose a one-dimensional model based on the Burton-Cabrera-Frank equations to describe the electromigration-induced step bunching instability on vicinal surfaces. The step drift resulting from atomic evaporation and/or deposition is explicitly included in our model. A linear stability analysis reveals several stability inversions as the evaporation rate varies, while a deposition flux is shown to have a stabilizing effect.