ABSTRACT
Ultrathin crytalline solid films are found to dewet with a faceted rim. In the case of heterogeneous dewetting initiated from a linear trench or from periodically arranged holes, the dewetted area expands either with a faceted multilayer rim or in a layer-by-layer fashion. In the case of homogeneous dewetting, holes are accompanied with multilayer rims and the uncoverage increases as a power law of time. Results of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are elucidated within the frame of nucleation theory and surface diffusion limited dynamics.
ABSTRACT
When a grooved periodic profile cut in a crystalline surface relaxes through surface diffusion, flatter parts appear at the top and bottom in the transient state which precedes complete smoothing. This has been attributed to a tendency of successive steps of identical sign to draw closer to one another. This kind of kinetic interaction is a consequence of the finite value of the interatomic distance, and is present even if no interaction between steps is taken into account. We investigate this effect in a very simplified model, namely, a one-dimensional profile with alternating pairs of up and down steps, where no annihilation of steps is allowed. The quantitative effect is partly treated analytically.
