Temperature dependence of nanopatterning of inhomogeneously strained surfaces

The temperature and deposition rate dependence of nanopattern formation on inhomogeneously strained surfaces is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. This study proposes that technologically achievable strain fields (that often are less than 1%) can be used to produce high-quality nanopatterns. We predict that ordered nanopatterns can be achieved even for small surface strain-field modulations if the temperature and deposition rate are large enough. To observe this effect, the mean adatom surface diffusion length has to be more or less equal to the period of the strain field. On the other hand, for larger strain-field modulations good nanopatterning can be achieved for a wide range of growth rates, especially at low temperatures.