Multilayer growth of Ag(1 1 0): a simulation study

The multilayer growth of Ag/Ag(1 1 0) is studied by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations based on model in the full fcc geometry with realistic activation barriers. The model is able to describe both the island rotation in the submonolayer regime and the ripple rotation in multilayer growth, in very good quantitative agreement with the experiments. The ripple wavelength and slope are calculated, and the results are compared also to simple analytical estimates, finding a good agreement in the case of the low-temperature cross-channel ripples. The role of the different elementary microscopic mechanisms is studied by varying one by one the values of the activation barriers; this has allowed to set limits on the values of the barrier themselves.