Abstract
We study equilibrium shapes of adsorbate crystals by allowing a possibility of dislocations on an elastic substrate in a two-dimensional lattice model. On a flat adsorbate surface with a periodic array of misfit dislocations, the preferential adsorption site is found to be either on the top or at the midpoint of the dislocations depending on the sign of the force dipole moment of the adatom and the sign of the misfit parameter. From the equilibrium shapes determined for various coverages, we infer the growth mode. As the misfit parameter increases, the growth mode changes from the Frank-van der Merwe (FM) to the Stranski-Krastanov (SK), further to the FM with dislocations for a parameter range of ordinary semiconductor materials. Conceivable growth modes such as the SK with dislocations appear in a parameter range between the SK and the FM with dislocations.
