Kinetic regime of step motion on the Si(111) (1 × 1) surface

The kinetic regime of step motion on the Si(111) (1 × 1) surface is determined from observations of island decay with low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM). We have investigated the island decay on the tops of mounds fabricated by a photolithographic method. Prefabricated mounds serve as controllable and reproducible island sources and platforms for decay. Island area during decay exhibits the expected power-law dependence on time, with exponent, a, that is indicative of the kinetic regime. In order to overcome the basic problem of realizing the thermodynamic limit of island decay on an infinite terrace, the power-law decay exponent is extrapolated to vanishing island (r) - to - terrace (R) radius ratio, r/R = 0. The dependence of a upon r/R suggests that island decay kinetics is intermediate between the diffusion-limited (DL) and attachment/detachment-limited (ADL) regimes.