The nucleation and growth kinetics of dimer-adatom stacking-fault structures on laser-quenched (111) surfaces were investigated by measuring the temporal evolution of the dimer-adatom stacking-fault domain size distribution at 320 to 440C; using a scanning tunnelling microscope. The evolution of the distribution suggested 2 different types of kinetics of dimer-adatom stacking-fault reconstruction. In the very early stages (immediately after laser irradiation) the surface contained many voids, and the formation of dimer-adatom stacking-fault structures was quite rapid. In the next stage (following the disappearance of voids), the dimer-adatom stacking-fault domains developed at constant nucleation and growth rates. The temperature dependence of the nucleation and growth rates was explained in terms of the theory of 2-dimensional structural phase transitions.

Kinetics of Dimer-Adatom Stacking-Fault Reconstruction on Laser-Quenched Si(111) Surfaces. K.Shimada, T.Ishimaru, T.Watanabe, T.Yamawaki, M.Osuka, T.Hoshino, I.Ohdomari: Physical Review B, 2000, 62[4], 2546-51