Effect of flow in solution on motion of steps during solution growth

金沢大学総合メディア基盤センターWe study step bunching on a vicinal face in solution growth. Assuming that steps are straight, we consider a twodimensional diffusion filed to represent a solution and a one-dimensional vicinal face. The steps are expressed as dots in the vicinal face. Taking account of a flow in a solution, we numerically solve the diffusion equation and the Navier-Stokes equation in the solution, and determine step velocities. If a flow in a solution is absent or is in the step-up direction, a vicinal face is stable. When the flow is in the step-down direction, the vicinal face is unstable and step bunching occurs. In the initial stage, small bunches are formed. Then, owing to the coalescence of small bunches, large bunches are formed. © 2011 The Physical Society of Japan