2006/02/15 by Thomas Frisch, Alberto Verga · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.stat-mech #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.96.166104
4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (February 2006)
arxiv created 2006/02/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We study the step meandering instability on a surface characterized by the alternation of terraces with different properties, as in the case of Si(001). The interplay between diffusion anisotropy and step stiffness induces a finite wavelength instability corresponding to a meandering mode. The instability sets in beyond a threshold value which depends on the relative magnitudes of the destabilizing flux and the stabilizing stiffness difference. The meander dynamics is governed by the conserved Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation, which display spatiotemporal coarsening.