Effects of a kinetic barrier on limited-mobility interface growth models
Abstract
The role played by a kinetic barrier originated by out-of-plane step edge diffusion, introduced in [Leal et al., https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/23/29/292201J. Phys. Condens. Matter 23, 292201 (2011)], is investigated in the Wolf-Villain and Das Sarma-Tamborenea models with short range diffusion. Using large-scale simulations, we observed that this barrier is sufficient to produce growth instability, forming quasiregular mounds in one and two dimensions. The characteristic surface length saturates quickly indicating a uncorrelated growth of the 3d structures, which is also confirmed by a growth exponent β=1/2. The out-of-plane particle current provides a large reduction of the downward flux enhancing, consequently, the net upward diffusion and formation of 3d self-arranged structures.