Kinetic theory of cluster impingement in film growth at solid surfaces: interplay between island density and adatom lifetime

The kinetic theory of cluster impingement during phase transitions occurring by simultaneous nucleation and cluster growth has been developed for both ID and 2D cases. In contrast with the 1D case, in the 2D case, owing to the complexity of the mathematical computation, only an approximate estimate of the kinetics is actually possible. However, an analytical approach is also proposed which very well reproduces the exact 2D kinetics as obtained by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The interplay between the impingement kinetics and the adatom lifetime in thin him growth at surfaces is analysed and discussed in connection with computer simulation. It is also shown how the k-point space correlation functions enter in the expressions of the impingement kinetics and adatom lifetime. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.