Role of step and terrace nucleation in heteroepitaxial growth morphology: growth kinetics of CaF2/Si(111).

The thickness uniformity and the spatial distribution of lattice relaxation in thin ({lt}8 nm) CaF{sub 2}/Si(111) films, observed with photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, are seen to depend strongly on the initial nucleation kinetics. We develop a general model for heteroepitaxial growth that explains both these and literature results. Terrace or step nucleation leads to laminar films, although with different relaxation patterns; combined step and terrace nucleation leads to rough films due to different upper-layer nucleation rates on the differently sized islands.