We have devised a very efficient method for simulating the behavior of an ensemble of two-dimensional islands on a solid surface. Upon heating, the islands evaporate and capture atoms and move around. As a result the number of islands decreases and their size distribution changes. The simulation examines the scaling laws for this coarsening process and the assumption of the mean-field theory on which they are based. We have also examined the possibility that a periodic strain field on the surface can be used to control the size and space distribution of the islands formed by nucleation.
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