Homo-epitaxial island growth on hexagonally reconstructed (100) surfaces was studied by using molecular dynamics methods which were based upon a reliable many-atom interatomic potential. The results revealed that stable rectangular islands were hexagonally reconstructed in agreement with the patterns of the reconstructed (100) surface, and suggested the existence of a so-called magic stable width for the reconstructed islands; in agreement with experimental observations. Results for adatom diffusion indicated that an experimentally observed marked anisotropic effect was due to long-range exchange diffusion.

Hexagonally Reconstructed Islands and Anisotropic Diffusion for Au/Au (100) M.Nomura, X.Q.Wang: Physical Review Letters, 1998, 81[13], 2739-42