Abstract
Following some previous work [O. Pierre-Louis: Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 106104 (2001)], a modifed expression of the step free energy is presented, that accounts for the existence of an intermediate adsorption state at the step.A step model is derived from this free energy. It is shown to exhibit a low temperature regime qualitatively different from the traditional approach. The macroscopic transparency kinetic coeffcient is explicitely related to the kink density. We also include the possibility of direct attachment to the kinks.
