The effects of surface strain upon epitaxial growth were studied using the kinetic Monte Carlo method. The strain dependences of the activation energy barrier and the attempt frequency of each elementary process were evaluated by using the embedded atom method interatomic potential. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of homoepitaxial growth on a Ag(111) surface with equi-biaxial tensile strain were carried out and the influence of the surface strain upon the nucleation of islands and the surface morphology were investigated. The island density increased due to a reduction in the adatom diffusion on the terrace. The averaged coordination number of atoms constituting islands decreased and the island shape was more dendritic. The tensile surface strain leads to an increase in the surface roughness at an early stage of the growth, but at high coverages the roughness was adversely lower for the strained surface.

Effects of Tensile Strain on Ag(111) Epitaxial Growth by Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations. D.Matsunaka, Y.Shibutani: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2011, 23[26], 265008