Abstract
We demonstrate an approach for determining the “effective” Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) step-edge barrier, an important kinetic constant to control the interlayer mass transport in epitaxial growth of thin films. The approach exploits the rate difference between the growth and/or decay of an adatom and a vacancy two-dimensional island, which allows the “effective” ES barrier to be determined uniquely by fitting with a single parameter. Application to growth of Pb islands produces an effective ES barrier of on Pb(111) surface at room temperature.
- Received 30 December 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.195428
©2006 American Physical Society