Island size distribution of one-dimensional aluminum chains on Si(100):2x1: A kinetic Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Experimental results and theoretical predictions have shown that in submonolayer growth of one-dimensional nanostructured systems, the island size distribution (ISD) exhibits either monomodal or monotonically decreasing distribution. In this work, kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of a suitable atomistic lattice-gas model describing the nucleation and one-dimensional formation of Al chains on Si(100):2x1 were performed to investigate the effect of growth parameters on dynamic scaling of ISD. Here, we show that monomodal distribution characterized by restricted nucleation and enhanced island aggregation is expected at low temperature growth condition. At higher temperature where adatom mobility and detachment is enhanced, persistent adatom nucleation and restricted island aggregation are expected, thereby resulting to monotonically decreasing ISD.