Nanometric Scale Surface science and the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation of disordered systems

Abstract

The Markov chain Monte Carlo method as a statistical mechanics technique for the study of macroscopic systems has furnished the scientific community with great knowledge and advances in the theory of phase transitions. While a number of Monte Carlo models have been proposed for the study of surface growth, these models have not nearly being studied as exhaustively as in the models of magnetic systems, a paradigm of which is the classical model of Ernest Ising. In particular, studies of phase transitions in surface/interface science at nanometric scales are almost non-existent. This article has been written to motivate research in this area of statistical mechanics from the perspective of surface science. In this article we survey the rudiments of the method along with some models of disordered systems such as magnetic systems, material fracture, nano-pattern formation under ion bombardment, and molecular chirality. We performed simulations of these models using the method and obtained results that are in excellent agreement with experimental observations.