Growth of clusters on surfaces: Monte Carlo simulations and scaling properties Original Research Article

The Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method is widely used to study the growth of islands on surfaces. The growth behaviour is characterized by the scaling properties of the island size distribution and its time evolution. Two stages of growth are considered: the diffusion and aggregation regime (at less than about 30% coverage), and a coalescence model relevant to higher coverage. It is shown how details of the growth processes revealed by the KMC simulations can be coupled with scaling ideas to provide a proper understanding of the island size statistics and their time dependence for both regimes.