Formation of surface structures of a heteroepitaxial film via controlled nucleation and cooperative propagation

Three-dimensional computer simulations were conducted to study the formation of surface structures of a heteroepitaxial film during both growth and annealing. Pre-patterning on substrate surfaces was used to create controlled nucleation of surface structures and cooperative propagation was used to form the regular surface structures. Both the wavelength and the propagation speed of the formed ripples were found to be insensitive to the surface pre-pattern, growth rate and film thickness. The pattern formation was found to be spontaneous and self-driven, providing an alternative pathway to form regular surface structures.