2D-drop model applied to the calculation of step formation energies on a (111) substrate

ROJAS M.I., AMILIBIA G.E., DEL POPOLO M.G., LEIVA E.P.M.

SURFACE SCIENCE

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2002 vol. 499 p. 135 - 140

0039-6028

A model is presented for obtaining the step formation energy for metallic islands on (1 1 1) surfaces from Monte Carlo simulations. This model is applied to homo (Cu/Cu(1 1 1), Ag/Ag(1 1 1)) and heteroepitaxy (Ag/Pt(1 1 1)) systems. The embedded atom method is used to represent the interaction between the particles of the system, but any other type of potential could be used as well. The formulation can also be employed to consider the case of other single crystal surfaces, since the higher barriers for atom motion on other surfaces are not a hindrance for the simulation scheme proposed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.