Effect of diatomic islands on step morphological stability of a terrace edge in molecular beam epitaxy

The effect of two-dimensional diatomic-island nucleation on the linear stability of the step morphology during molecular beam epitaxy is investigated numerically via shooting methods. It is found that the effect of diatomic islands on the step morphological stability is significant. The greater the effects of diatomic islands, the more stable the step morphology. Increasing capture efficiency can decrease the critical surface capillary length and shift the critical wave number toward short-wavelength regimes. The unstable region is shrunk with increasing capture efficiency. Further, increasing flux coverage and/or surface coverage can decrease the critical surface capillary length and shift the critical wave number toward short-wavelength regimes.