title: Observed effects of a changing step-edge density on thin-film growth dynamics.
abstract: We grew SrTiO(3) on SrTiO(3)(001) by pulsed laser deposition, while observing x-ray diffraction at the (00(1/2)) position. The drop DeltaI in the x-ray intensity following a laser pulse contains information about plume-surface interactions. Kinematic theory predicts DeltaI/I = -4sigma(1 - sigma), so that DeltaI /I depends only on the amount of deposited material sigma. In contrast, we observed experimentally that |DeltaI /I| < 4sigma(1 - sigma) and that DeltaI /I depends on the phase of x-ray growth oscillations. The combined results suggest a fast smoothing mechanism that depends on surface step-edge density.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fleet
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Brock