Accommodation and diffusion of Cu deposited on flat and stepped Cu(111) surfaces

We present the results of a molecular-dynamics simulation of the deposition of Cu on Cu(111) using a realistic many-body interaction potential. It is shown that the transfer of the adsorption energy to the surface phonons is extremely efficient. If the adsorption takes place on a small or irregular island the energy transfer has a large probability of disrupting the island so that the incoming atom ends up in the island rather than on top of it.

The implications of these observations for homoepitaxial growth and, in particular, the possibility of explaining the observation of low-temperature layer-by-layer growth are discussed.