Kinetic roughening in molecular-beam epitaxy

Abstract

We extend a continuum model recently proposed by Villain [J. Phys. I (France) 1, 19 (1991)] to study equilibrium and nonequilibrium diffusion on a high-symmetry surface under a fluctuating particle beam. Exponents characterizing dynamic scaling in various regimes are derived explicitly in all dimensions, as well as the relevant lengths which separate these regimes. Different surface morphologies are correlated with experimentally accessible parameters such as substrate temperature and deposition rate.