Dynamic scaling of island-size distribution in submonolayer growth of 1×1 films

Abstract

The scaling of island-size distribution of an epitaxially grown 1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1 Fe film on a Au (001) surface as a function of coverage was observed using high-resolution low-energy electron diffraction. The scaling function extracted from the intensity distribution of integer-diffracted beams is best described by a \ensuremath{\gamma} function. The island density is almost a constant in the aggregation growth regime. The forms of the scaling function and the island density are in qualitative agreement with recent simulations of molecular-beam-epitaxy growth.