Analytical solution of generalized Burton--Cabrera--Frank equations for growth and post--growth equilibration on vicinal surfaces

摘要

We investigate growth on vicinal surfaces by molecular beam epitaxy makinguse of a generalized Burton--Cabrera--Frank model. Our primary aim is topropose and implement a novel analytical program based on a perturbativesolution of the non--linear equations describing the coupled adatom and dimerkinetics. These equations are considered as originating from a fullymicroscopic description that allows the step boundary conditions to be directlyformulated in terms of the sticking coefficients at each step. As an example,we study the importance of diffusion barriers for adatoms hopping downdescending steps (Schwoebel effect) during growth and post-growth equilibrationof the surface.