Off-lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of Stranski-Krastanov-like growth

Mechanisms of Stranski-Krastanov Growth

Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth is reported experimentally as the growth mode that is responsible for the transition to three dimensional islands in heteroepitaxial growth. A kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model is proposed that can replicate many of the experimentally observed features of this growth mode. Simulations reveal that this model effectively captures the SK transition and subsequent growt...

Formation and consequences of misfit dislocations in heteroepitaxial growth

We investigate the formation of misfit dislocations in strained heteroepitaxial crystal growth and their influence on the structure of the growing layers. We use Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for an off-lattice model in 1+1 dimensions with Lennard-Jones interactions. Two different types of the formation of dislocations are found, depending on the sign and the magnitude of the misfit. Misfit d...

Kinetic pathway in Stranski-Krastanov growth of Ge on Si(001).

The transition from 2D to 3D growth of Ge on Si(001) has been investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy. A metastable 3D cluster phase with well-defined structure and shape is found. The clusters have Ge lattice constants and a (105) facet structure. Results suggest that these clusters provide an easy kinetic path for formation of "macroscopic" Ge islands.

Approximating Off-Lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo

We present an approximate off-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method for simulating heteroepitaxial growth. The model aims to retain the speed and simplicity of lattice based KMC methods while capturing essential features that can arise in an off-lattice setting. Interactions between atoms are defined by an interatomic potential which determines the arrangement of the atoms. In this formulati...

KMCThinFilm: A C++ Framework for the Rapid Development of Lattice Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) Simulations of Thin Film Growth