Faceting Kinetics of Stepped Si(113) Surfaces: A Time-Resolved X-Ray Scattering Study

Abstract

A time-resolved x-ray scattering study is presented of the faceting kinetics of a Si surface misoriented by $2.1°$ from the cubic [113] direction towards [001]. Following a quench from a one-phase region of the phase diagram into a two-phase region, a grooved superstructure forms and subsequently coarsens in time. For times between one and several hundred seconds, the surface morphology is self-similar at different times, with a characteristic groove size ( $L$) varying as a power law versus time ( $t$): ${L=L}_0{t}^{0.164\pm 0.021}$. At later times, the groove size approaches a limiting value.