Modeling the Anisotropy of Step Fluctuations on Surfaces: Theoretical Step Stiffness Confronts Experiment
| dc.contributor.advisor | Einstein, Theodore L | en_US |
| dc.contributor.author | Stasevich, Timothy John | en_US |
| dc.contributor.department | Physics | en_US |
| dc.contributor.publisher | Digital Repository at the University of Maryland | en_US |
| dc.contributor.publisher | University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2007-02-01T20:20:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2007-02-01T20:20:35Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2006-08-29 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | In this thesis, we study the anisotropy of step stiffness: an important parameter describing the fluctuations of surface steps within the continuum step model. Using a lattice-gas framework, we derive many practical formulas for the anisotropy of step stiffness on face centered cubic {001} and {111} surfaces. We compare our formulas to experiments on Ag and Cu surfaces and thereby predict the size of nearest-neighbor, next-nearest-neighbor, and three-adatom, non-pairwise "trio" interactions between adatoms. To further corroborate our theory, we perform a series of first-principle calculations of the relevant adatom interactions. We also incorporate our formulas into simulations and model the relaxation of a Ag step initially pinned by surface impurities. Finally, we extend our theory to model Ag steps decorated by C_60 molecules. Together, our work provides a consistent picture of step stiffness anisotropy from an experimental, theoretical, and numerical perspective. | en_US |
| dc.format.extent | 5076682 bytes | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1903/4071 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.subject.pqcontrolled | Physics, Condensed Matter | en_US |
| dc.subject.pquncontrolled | Surface Physics | en_US |
| dc.subject.pquncontrolled | Crystal Anisotropy | en_US |
| dc.subject.pquncontrolled | Statistical Mechanics | en_US |
| dc.title | Modeling the Anisotropy of Step Fluctuations on Surfaces: Theoretical Step Stiffness Confronts Experiment | en_US |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en_US |
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