A molecular dynamics study of transient processes during deposition on (001) metal surfaces

Abstract

Strong reflection high‐energy electron diffraction oscillations have been observed during growth of Cu onto (001)Ag substrates at 77 K [W. F. Egelhoff and I. Jacob, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 921 (1989)]. This result indicates layer by layer film growth and surface mobility of the deposited atoms. This unexpected result was explained by proposing a ‘‘transient mobility’’ to account for layer growth. We have utilized molecular dynamics simulations with the embedded atom method to study transient processes that occur over hundreds of picoseconds. Transient processes were observed that promoted the formation of clusters, and other processes were observed that resulted in spreading atoms across the surface.