Adatom incorporation and step crossing at the edges of 2D nanoislands

Abstract

Adatom incorporation into the ``faceted'' steps bordering the 2D nanoislands is analyzed. The step permeability and incorporation coefficients are derived for some typical growth situations. It is shown that the step consisting of equivalent straight segments can be permeable even in the case of fast egde migration if there exist factors delaying creation of new kinks. The step consisting of alternating rough and straight segments may be permeable if there is no adatom transport between neighboring segments through the corner diffusion.