Thermodynamic model of coherent island formation on vicinal substrate

A thermodynamic model has been proposed to address the formation of coherent island on the vicinal substrate. The morphological transition from square based island to elongated based one with various substrate misorientations is described. The initial stage of nucleation and growth process of islands in Stranski-Krastanow system is studied by taking into account the elastic deformations and the change of energy in the case of two-dimensional growth mode. The theoretical analysis shows the minimum nucleation barrier of island is on the decrease with increment of substrate misorientation, which means the nucleation of island on vicinal substrate is more favorable than that on flat substrate. By using the fitting data of experimental results done by Persichetti et al., [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 036104 (2010) and Phys. Rev. B 82, 121309(R) (2010)], we provide a meaningful explanation of the experimental observations.