Escape-Induced Temporally Correlated Noise Driven Universality Crossover

Abstract

Universal behavior in far-from-equilibrium systems is driven by interactions between transport processes and noise structure. The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) framework predicts that extensions incorporating conserved currents or temporally correlated noise give rise to distinct growth morphologies and universality classes, yet direct experimental realization has remained elusive. Here, we report atomically resolved Sn thin-film growth on Sb-doped MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, revealing a sharp dynamical crossover between two fundamentally different regimes. Early stage growth follows conserved KPZ scaling, forming two-dimensional islands and stanene layers. Beyond a critical deposition time, temporally correlated noise dominates, driving the nucleation of $\alpha$ -Sn clusters, their evolution into faceted grains, and coexistence with faceted $\beta$-Sn. Molecular dynamics simulation and Auger electron spectroscopy show adatom escape as the microscopic origin of temporally correlated noise, providing a microscopic mechanism for the universality crossover. These findings establish, for the first time, that temporal noise correlations can fundamentally alter the scaling class of a growing interface, linking atomistic kinetics to emergent universal behavior.