Coarsening Dynamics of Faceted Crystal Surfaces
by
Stephen J. Watson
Northwestern University

Experiments on the coarsening properties of an extended micro-faceted crystal surface reveal a marked transition in behaviour between annealing and net growth regimes; distinct scaling laws for the characteristic lengths and dramatically differing surface morphologies. We consider a continuum model of such a system where attachment kinetics is the dominant mass transfer mechanism. We find an an intrinsic characterization of the dynamics of the associated edge-network of the faceted surface. The result is a novel Edge-Network-Dynamical-System (ENDS), rich in both topological and coarsening events. Surface morpholigies and coarening laws follow directly from analsysis of ENDS. We will also present large scale simulation results of ENDS 1-D and 2-D which probe the (temporally) self-similar ''texture'' of the coarsening surface.

Date received: November 2, 2003