Distinguishing step relaxation mechanisms via pair correlation functions

Abstract

Theoretical predictions of coupled step motion are tested by direct STM measurement of the fluctuations of near-neighbor pairs of steps on Si(111)-root3 x root3 R30 - Al at 970K. The average magnitude of the pair-correlation function is within one standard deviation of zero, consistent with uncorrelated near-neighbor step fluctuations. The time dependence of the pair-correlation function shows no statistically significant agreement with the predicted t^1/2 growth of pair correlations via rate-limiting atomic diffusion between adjacent steps. The physical considerations governing uncorrelated step fluctuations occurring via random attachment/detachment events at the step edge are discussed.

17 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Experimental Persistence Probability for Fluctuating Steps
• A unified treatment of current-induced instabilities on Si surfaces
• Schwoebel barriers on Si(111) steps and kinks

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Symmetry based determination of space-time functions in nonequilibrium growth processes
• Sampling Time Effects for Persistence and Survival in Step Structural Fluctuations
• Characterisation of non-equilibrium growth through global two-time quantities
• Persistence and survival in equilibrium step fluctuations
• Kinetic roughening, global quantities, and fluctuation-dissipation relations
• Spatial First-passage Statistics of Al/Si(111)-(root3 x root3) Step Fluctuations