Growth with Surface Diffusion

Abstract

A simple growth model is investigated where particles are deposited onto a substrate randomly and subsequently relax into a position nearby where the binding is strongest. In space dimension d = 2 the surface roughness exponent and the dynamical exponent are ξ = 1.4 ± 0.1 and z = 3.8 ± 0.5. These values are larger than for previous models of sedimentation or ballistic deposition and are surprisingly close to the ones obtained from a linear generalized Langevin equation for growth with surface diffusion. A scaling relation 2ξ = z − d + 1 is proposed to be valid for a large class of growth models relevant for molecular beam epitaxy.