Self-assembling surface stress domains far from equilibrium

Abstract

We have used real-time low-energy electron microscopy to observe the growth and shape evolutions of self-assembled stress domains on Si(111) surfaces. We find that elastic strain leads to dramatic transformations in the shapes of large domains that are not predicted by existing theoretical models. By comparing the experimental observations on the formation of the stress domains with dynamic growth simulations, we have developed a quantitative understanding of how a self-assembling system falls out of equilibrium. Our work shows the nonequilibrium shapes that a domain adopts during growth depending very strongly on the azimuthal dependence of its boundary energy. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.