A kinetic Monte Carlo simulation was performed in order to study the effect of Sb atoms as a surfactant on the growth of Ag on Ag(111). In this model, the repulsive mechanism in which the surfactant Sb atoms repelled diffusing Ag adatoms, and there was an exchange mechanism between Ag and Sb atoms, were considered. The simulations showed that the effects of Sb atoms for the Ag/Ag(111) growth system were mainly to increase the chances for Ag atoms to overcome the Ehrlich–Schwoebel barrier both in the interlayer growth and along the edge diffusion. The influence of the coverage of Sb atoms and substrate temperature upon the growth of Ag/Sb/Ag(111) was considered.

Simulation of Surfactant Effects on the Growth of Metal Homoepitaxial Sb–Ag/Ag(111). L.L.Wu, F.M.Wu: Chinese Physics B, 2010, 19[6], 066801