Step meandering during epitaxial growth

IF 6 2区工程技术 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids Pub Date : 2025-10-03 DOI:10.1016/j.jmps.2025.106376

L. Benoit–Maréchal , M.E. Jabbour , N. Triantafyllidis

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Abstract

The present study is a theoretical investigation of meandering steps on vicinal surfaces, an instability phenomenon occurring during epitaxial growth in crystals. Results are based on the linear stability analysis using a thermodynamically consistent multiphysics continuum mechanics model, which accounts for the dynamics of adatom diffusion on terraces (the dynamical effect) and attachment-detachment at steps and generalizes the expression of the step chemical potential by incorporating the necessary coupling between the diffusion fields on adjacent terraces (the chemical effect). Having previously shown that these dynamical and chemical effects can explain the onset of straight-step bunching without recourse to the inverse Ehrlich-Schwoebel (iES) barrier or other extraneous mechanisms, the novelty of the present work consists in the extension of our previous 1D analysis for straight steps to a 2D modeling for the meandering steps. Like in the straight-step context, the chemical and dynamical effects have a non-negligible influence on the stability of the system, leading to non-trivial results like multimode instabilities or abrupt bunching-to-meandering transitions.

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外延生长过程中的台阶弯曲

本研究是对晶体外延生长过程中产生的一种不稳定现象——相邻表面上的弯曲台阶进行理论研究。结果基于线性稳定性分析，采用热力学一致的多物理场连续力学模型，该模型考虑了附着原子在台阶上的扩散动力学（动力学效应）和台阶上的附着-分离动力学，并通过纳入相邻台阶上扩散场之间的必要耦合（化学效应）来推广台阶化学势的表达式。之前的研究表明，这些动力学和化学效应可以解释直阶聚束的开始，而不依赖于逆埃利希-施沃贝尔势垒或其他外来机制，目前工作的新颖性在于将我们之前对直阶的一维分析扩展到对蜿蜒阶的二维建模。就像在直接步骤环境中一样，化学和动力学效应对系统的稳定性有不可忽略的影响，导致非平凡的结果，如多模不稳定性或突然的束向蜿蜒转变。

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来源期刊

Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids 物理-材料科学：综合

CiteScore

9.80

自引率

9.40%

发文量

276

审稿时长

52 days

期刊介绍： The aim of Journal of The Mechanics and Physics of Solids is to publish research of the highest quality and of lasting significance on the mechanics of solids. The scope is broad, from fundamental concepts in mechanics to the analysis of novel phenomena and applications. Solids are interpreted broadly to include both hard and soft materials as well as natural and synthetic structures. The approach can be theoretical, experimental or computational.This research activity sits within engineering science and the allied areas of applied mathematics, materials science, bio-mechanics, applied physics, and geophysics. The Journal was founded in 1952 by Rodney Hill, who was its Editor-in-Chief until 1968. The topics of interest to the Journal evolve with developments in the subject but its basic ethos remains the same: to publish research of the highest quality relating to the mechanics of solids. Thus, emphasis is placed on the development of fundamental concepts of mechanics and novel applications of these concepts based on theoretical, experimental or computational approaches, drawing upon the various branches of engineering science and the allied areas within applied mathematics, materials science, structural engineering, applied physics, and geophysics. The main purpose of the Journal is to foster scientific understanding of the processes of deformation and mechanical failure of all solid materials, both technological and natural, and the connections between these processes and their underlying physical mechanisms. In this sense, the content of the Journal should reflect the current state of the discipline in analysis, experimental observation, and numerical simulation. In the interest of achieving this goal, authors are encouraged to consider the significance of their contributions for the field of mechanics and the implications of their results, in addition to describing the details of their work.