Size-Dependent Detachment-Limited Decay Kinetics of Two-Dimensional TiN Islands on TiN(111)

S. Kodambaka, V. Petrova, S. V. Khare, D. Gall, A. Rockett, I. Petrov, and J. E. Greene

Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 176102 – Published 2 October 2002

Abstract

In situ high-temperature ( $T_{a} = 1050 - 1250 K$ ) scanning tunneling microscopy was used to determine the coarsening and decay kinetics of two-dimensional TiN adatom and vacancy islands on atomically smooth TiN(111) terraces. We report the first observation of an abrupt decrease in decay rates, irrespective of $T_{a}$ , of adatom islands with areas less than a critical value of $1600 Å^{2}$ . However, no decay rate transition was observed for vacancy islands. We attribute the size-dependent island decay behavior, which is consistent with detachment-limited kinetics, to anisotropic attachment and detachment barriers.

Received 23 June 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.176102

Authors & Affiliations

S. Kodambaka, V. Petrova, S. V. Khare, D. Gall, A. Rockett, I. Petrov, and J. E. Greene

Department of Materials Science and the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, 104 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801

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Vol. 89, Iss. 17 — 21 October 2002

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