Pyramidal surface morphology and height distribution in noble metal homoepitaxy
Abstract
Although rough surfaces generally exhibit mound structures, a Gaussian distribution (or slightly "skewed Gaussian") of terrace heights is typically observed. A striking exception is found in these x-ray scattering studies of homoepitaxial growth on Ag(111) where, concomitantly with the incorporation of vacancies, the distribution of terrace heights for thick films is found to have a bimodal character that reflects the pyramidal surface morphology combined with a latent memory of the underlying substrate. The geometrical origin of the roughness leads to a surface roughness exponent, β =1. An x-ray scattering model will be discussed. The effect is observed to be quite pronounced for Ag(111), weakly present for Cu(001), and absent for Ag(001). Funding is acknowledged from the NSF and the MU Research Board. Synchrotron x-ray scattering was performed at the SUNY X3B2 beam line at the National Synchrotron Light Source - both are supported by the DoE.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003APS..MAR.P6004M