Rough growth fronts of evaporated gold films, compared with self-affine and mound growth models

The power spectra, S(q,t), of evaporated gold films at room temperature are quantitatively compared with the Das Sarma Tamborenea model. The experimental curves fit the theory. However, the noise parameter, deduced from the fitting, disagrees with the predicted value. The two-dimensional (2D) experimental height–height correlation functions of scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) images present a hexagonal anisotropy. This fact agrees with the existence of a mound structure in the three-dimensional STM images. In addition the 2D Fourier transform module shows the predicted maxima for a mound model.