Time-invariant structure factor in an epitaxial growth front

Abstract

It is shown that the dynamic-scaling-hypothesis description of an epitaxial growth front leads to a time-invariant structure factor in reciprocal space. This invariant structure factor is a result of having both stationary step density and step distribution during growth. The structure factor exists in the scaling regime where both the interface width and lateral correlation length grow in time according to power laws. This invariant characteristic, which manifests itself in the short-range behavior in the multilevel crystal surface, can be readily tested in a diffraction experiment.