Search

This study presents a comprehensive and innovative exploration of how the surface potential energy landscape influences meander formation. Using the Vicinal Cellular Automaton model, which distinguishes surface diffusion from adatom incorporation into the crystal, the research delves into various factors affecting surface pattern dynamics. By isolating the diffusion process within a defined energy potential, the study provides a detailed analysis of how changes in the potential energy well and the barrier at the top of the step contribute to meander formation. Remarkably, the results reveal that the mere presence of a potential well at the step's bottom is sufficient to induce meandering. The role of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier on already-formed meanders is further investigated, and a mechanism for meander formation is proposed to clarify this process. The derived relation accurately captures the meander length patterns observed in the simulations. Ultimately, the findings demonstrate that the shape of the surface energy potential plays a pivotal role in determining surface pattern formation., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

The growth of a crystal is usually determined by its surface. Many factors influence the growth dynamics. Energy barriers associated with the presence of steps most often decide about the emerging pattern. The height and type of Ehrlich-Schwoebel step barriers lead to the growth of nanocolumns, nanowires, pyramids, and bunches or meanders in the same system. Surface diffusion is another factor that determines the nature of growth. We used the (2+1)D cellular automaton model to investigate the additional effect of diffusion along with step barriers. We show that when we only change the diffusion rate, the length of the meanders or the height of the bunches increase, while the cracked structure of the nanopillars changes into very long, tall nanowires. We show that the length of the step-step correlation is a good characterization of the resulting patterns.