Simulations permitted multiple-layer thin film growth to be studied in detail, using reliable interatomic potentials for face-centered cubic metals from corrected effective medium theory. Results were presented for the homo-epitaxial deposition of 50 monolayers on Pd(001) and Cu(001) near 0K. It was found that atoms in overhang sites were stable due to the absence of diffusion at very low temperature and the short time scale of molecular dynamics simulations. This stability led to interesting features in the film which may be observable in STM or other experiments near 0K. The growth behavior of the thin film changed after deposition of the first 5 to 10 monolayers: more overhanging atoms were present, the surface was rougher, and multiple-layer events begin to occur. The formation of large voids in the film and the mechanism of multi-atom rearrangement events which decreased the surface roughness were considered. Several simulation parameters were varied (e.g. deposition rate, system size, random aiming points of the deposited atoms) to study their effects on the results. There was no clear difference between Pd and Cu thin film growth near 0K.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Multilayer Homo-Epitaxial Thin Film Growth in the Diffusion-Limited Regime. Kelchner, C.L., DePristo, A.E.: Surface Science, 1997, 393[1-3], 72-84