Resumen de Generic scale invariance in continuum models of two-dimensional surfaces

Edoardo Vivo

• The study of interfacial phenomena has always constituted an integral part of condensed matter physics and materials science. Indeed, most properties of real materials depend crucially on the presence of imperfections, such as bulk vacancies, dislocations, surface roughness, etc. which derive from the non-equilibrium conditions under which the material has formed [1, 2]. In the last century, the increasing interest in systems with considerable surface to volume ratio, such as for instance devices at the nanoscale, has attracted scientists from different fields, from physics to chemistry, biology, or engineering [3]. This is due to the great amount of technological applications of such systems to a wide variety of situations. Moreover, the improvement of production and characterization techniques for the growth of surfaces at micro and nano-scale, such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy, or for surface etching, such as Ion Beam Sputtering , have unveiled unexpected interesting physical properties of the grown interfaces. From a technological point of view, the ability to control and predict the effect induced by disorder and the mechanisms of self-organization that ensue during the growth dynamics is of great interest [4]. For instance, the possibility to control the surface roughness could improve electric conductivity or the mechanical contact of certain devices, whereas the ability to control the formation of a pattern could change, for instance, the optical properties of the material. ------------------------------------------------------------------