Stability of Vicinal Surfaces: Beyond the Quasistatic Approximation

We revisit the step bunching instability without recourse to the quasistatic approximation and show that the stability diagrams are significantly altered, even in the low-deposition regime where it was thought sufficient. In particular, steps are unstable against bunching for attachment-detachment limited growth. By accounting for the dynamics and chemical effects, we can explain the onset of step bunching in Si(111)-(7×7) and GaAs(001) without resort to the inverse Schwoebel barrier or step-edge diffusion. Further, the size-scaling analysis of step-bunch growth, as induced by these two combined effects, agrees with the bunching regime observed at 750 °C in Si(111)-(7×7).