Observation of the Huygens-principle growth mechanism in sputtered W/Si multilayers

We have investigated the interfacial roughness of a W/Si multilayer sputtered at high Ar gas pressure. The roughness exponents as determined from diffuse X-ray scattering agree well with the Huygens-principle growth model proposed by Tang, Alexander and Bruinsma (TAB). Simple microscopic explanations are given to account for the finding of Edwards-Wilkinson (EW) type growth at low Ar pressure and the TAB growth mechanism at high pressures, as well as for the absence of any scaling according to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation.