Growth of three-dimensional structures by atomic deposition on surfaces containing defects : simulations and theory

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation of three-dimensional pyramidal structures during atomic deposition on defective surfaces, combining simulations and theory to understand growth mechanisms and predict island size distributions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive simulation and theoretical analysis of 3D structure growth on defective surfaces, including evaporation effects, and offers insights for interpreting experimental data.

Findings

Good agreement between simulations and theoretical calculations

Predicted island size distributions in various growth regimes

Clarified previous studies of 3D growth mechanisms

Abstract

We perform a comprehensive study of the formation of three dimensional (pyramidal) structures in a large range of conditions, including the possible evaporation of adatoms from the surface and the presence of surface defects. We compare our computer simulations to theoretical calculations of the growth and find good agreement between them. This work clarifies precedent studies of three dimensional growth and predicts the island size distributions obtained in the different regimes. Finally, we show how our analysis can be used to interpret experimental data.