Anisotropic Step Stiffness from a Kinetic Model of Epitaxial Growth
Anisotropic Step Stiffness from a Kinetic Model of Epitaxial Growth
Starting from a detailed model for the kinetics of a step edge or island boundary, we derive a Gibbs–Thomson-type formula and the associated step stiffness as a function of the step edge orientation angle, $\theta$. Basic ingredients of the model are (i) the diffusion of point defects (“adatoms”) on terraces …