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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Cell Edge Dynamics during Cell Spreading
Published on: May 22, 2021
Spiral growth and step edge barriers
Alex Redinger1, Oliver Ricken, Philipp Kuhn
1II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Köln, Zülpicher Strasse 77, Germany.
Abstract:
The growth of spiral mounds containing a screw dislocation is compared to the growth of wedding cakes by two-dimensional nucleation. Using phase field simulations and homoepitaxial growth experiments on the Pt(111) surface we show that both structures attain the same large scale shape when a significant step-edge barrier suppresses interlayer transport. The higher vertical growth rate of the spiral mounds on Pt(111) reflects the different incorporation mechanisms for atoms in the top region and can be formally represented by an enhanced apparent step-edge barrier.
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