Submonolayer growth with anomalously high island density in hyperthermal deposition

We present a rate equation model for submonolayer island growth under conditions where hyperthermal deposition techniques such as low-energy ion deposition are employed to achieve smooth layer-by-layer growth. By asymptotic analysis, we demonstrate that the model exhibits stationary behavior with well-defined dynamic and growth exponents beta and chi, respectively, in the limit of small and high detachment rates. We verify these predictions by using the particle coalescence simulation method. The simulations reveal the existence of a relatively sharp transition regime with an increasing detachment rate of adatoms from high values of the growth exponent beta approximately 1 to much smaller values of beta determined by detachment and island diffusion processes. Our numerical results for the island size distribution indicate an anomalously high number of small islands, in agreement with available experimental data.