Signature of microscale kinetics in mesoscale description of epitaxial growth

Abstract

We describe the effect of kinetic interactions of adsorbed atoms in a mesoscale model of epitaxial growth without elasticity. Our goal is to understand how atomic correlations due to kinetics leave their signature in mechanisms governing the motion of crystal line defects (steps) at the nanoscale. We focus on the key atomistic processes related to external material deposition, desorption, and asymmetric energy barriers on a stepped surface. By starting with a kinetic, restricted solid-on-solid model in 1+1 dimensions, we derive laws that govern the motion of a single step when deposition is nearly balanced out by desorption. These mesoscale laws reveal how kinetic processes, e.g., bond breaking at the step edge, influence step motion via the correlated motion of atoms.