Strongly-driven coarsening of height-selected Pb islands on Si(111)

作者：Li Maozhi^*; Evans J W; Wang C Z; Hupalo M; Tringides M C; Chan T L; Ho K M

来源：Surface Science, 2007, 601(23): L140-L144.

DOI：10.1016/j.susc.2007.08-029

• coarsening
• rate equations
• quantum size effects
• metal-on-semiconductor thin film structures

A theoretical model is proposed to describe the rapid coarsening observed for Pb islands on a Si(111) surface where classical kinetics breaks down. In this system, quantum size effects produce mesa-like Pb islands with chemical potentials depending strongly on their heights, in addition to the usual dependence on the step curvature. Furthermore, a dense wetting layer enables fast mass transport between islands. Incorporating these features, our theoretical model predicts evolution of the island height distribution in good agreement with experiments.

• 出版日期2007-12-1