Measurement of growth kinetics in a heteroepitaxial system: Pb on Cu(100)

The kinetically driven low temperature growth of Pb on Cu(100) has been investigated using helium beam scattering. Up to 16 equivalent layers (monolayers, ML), a complex growth pattern is the result of the non-negligible Pb mobility, the large lattice mismatch, and the square symmetry substrate. Subsequently, growth shows characteristics of dynamical scaling. The growth and roughness exponents are measured to be 0.3 and 1. The growth of the interface width saturates at about 40 ML due to the influence of the typical size of the mosaic of Pb(100) domains.