Persistent step-flow growth of strained films on vicinal substrates.
We propose a model of persistent step flow, emphasizing dominant kinetic processes and strain effects. Within this model, we construct a morphological phase diagram, delineating a regime of step flow from regimes of step bunching and island formation. In particular, we predict the existence of concurrent step bunching and island formation, a new growth mode that competes with step flow for phase space, and show that the deposition flux and temperature must be chosen within a window in order to achieve persistent step flow. The model rationalizes the diverse growth modes observed in pulsed laser deposition of SrRuO3 on SrTiO3.
Hong
Wei
W
Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Lee
Ho Nyung
HN
Yoon
Mina
M
Christen
Hans M
HM
Lowndes
Douglas H
DH
Suo
Zhigang
Z
Zhang
Zhenyu
Z