The homoepitaxial growth of Pt on Pt(111) studied with STM

The homoepitaxial growth of Pt on Pt(111) has been investigated by STM and the results have been compared to recent thermal He scattering (TEAS) data obtained on the same system. Additional information on the growth modes is obtained and the real space aspect of the growing surface, which results in TEAS and RHEED oscillations is evidenced. The three different growth modes, including the reentrant layer-by-layer growth at low temperatures, are confirmed. The limited diffusion along the adatom island edges, which causes their fractal aspect with dendritic structures, appears to play a significant role in the appearance of the low temperature layer-by-layer growth.