Correlated and non-correlated growth kinetics of pentacene in the sub-monolayer regime

We present a study of the growth kinetics of pentacene monolayer islands on SiO2 in the submonolayer regime by using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Two distinct growth modes, namely correlated growth (CG) and non-correlated growth (NCG), have been identified by Voronoi tesselation. These two modes are characterized by different island growth kinetics. In the case of correlated growth, the average island size 〈A〉 scales with deposition time t i.e. 〈A〉 ∝ t whereas for non-correlated growth, 〈A〉 ∝ t2. The CG and NCG regimes are defined by the level of re-evaporation which determines the capture zones around the islands: Wigner–Seitz cells for CG and coronas of width λD (λD is the mean diffusion distance on SiO2 before re-evaporation) for NCG. A simple model is proposed to reproduce the experimental growth kinetics in both modes.