Coherent bulk deposit

Nucleation and growth processes of the metal lattice. Understanding of the nucleation and growth of surface nuclei, formation of monolayers and multilayers, and growth of coherent bulk deposit is based on knowledge of condensed-matter physics and physical chemistry of surfaces. 

Study of epitaxial growth by the LEED method is often quite clear-cut and uncomplicated by formation of unexpected structures. One simply observes development of a characteristic crystal plane of the deposit bulk structure, and this is usually quite obvious from simple inspection of the pattern. Orientation of the film on the substrate is usually easily evident also. In some cases, the overlayer is coherent with the substrate as a coincidence lattice producing complicated LEED patterns. Yet it is usually relatively straightforward to decipher such patterns, because spacings in the overlayer structure are often easily assigned from known X-ray spacings of the substance being deposited [see, for example, Bauer (95)]. 

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