Model for diffusion and growth of silicon on Si(100) with inequivalent sites in a square lattice

The migration of Si atoms on Si(100) is studied by analyzing the islands formed during deposition using a Monte Carlo method and by comparing simulations with experiments in the range 350–500 K. With a minimum of assumptions, the temperature dependence of the experimental island number density is reproduced. Also, our model reproduces very well many phenomena experimentally observed such as the preferred formation of chains with an odd number of dimers, the preferentially ending of dimer chains over the dimer rows of the substrate, and the formation of different domains. © 1996 The American Physical Society.