Atomic Processes in Low Temperature Pt-Dendrite Growth on Pt(111)

Abstract

Shape and branch thickness of dendritic Pt-adatom islands on Pt(111) are compared with the results of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Atoms attached to just one atom of an island were found to have an asymmetric jump probability towards higher coordinated sites. This asymmetry, which results from nonequivalent hopping paths, gives rise to preferential growth directions at low temperatures.