Description of Research Area

A01: Fundamental | Proposed Research Projects (2014-2015)

Strange Patterns of Atomic Steps Induced by Moving Source of Adatoms
Leader SATO, Masahide Information Media Center, Kanazawa University URL : http://www.imc.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/info/research/literacy/Msato
Research Subject Usually, there are atomic steps on a crystal surface. Recently, a strange comb-like step pattern were observed on a Ga deposited Si(111) surface. The pattern is considered to be caused by moving linear source of adatoms. We study the formation of comb-like step pattern by computational simulations using a simplified phase field model. Especially, we study how the wavelength of the pattern are determined and why the coarsening of the wavelength is terminated.
Research Partner UWAHA, Makio Department of Physics, Nagoya University MIURA, Hitoshi Department of Information and Biological Sciences, Nagoya City University