The presence of activation barriers, which hindered the attachment of material to existing islands, was investigated with regard to homoepitaxial growth on a (111)-(7 x 7) reconstructed surface. An unusual distribution of island sizes was found to be peaked around so-called magic sizes, and a sharp dependence of the island density upon the growth rate was observed.

Magic Islands and Barriers to Attachment - a Si/Si(111) 7 x 7 Growth Model J.Mysliveček, T.Jarolímek, P.Smilauer, B.Voigtländer, M.Kästner: Physical Review B, 1999, 60[19], 13869-73