On the role of step-flow advection during electromigration-induced step bunching

We propose a one-dimensional model based on the Burton-Cabrera-Frank equations to describe the electromigration-induced step bunching instability on vicinal surfaces. The step drift resulting from atomic evaporation and/or deposition is explicitly included in our model. A linear stability analysis reveals several stability inversions as the evaporation rate varies, while a deposition flux is shown to have a stabilizing effect.