Leibniz MMS Days 2018 - Abstract
Grüner, Christoph
Physical vapor deposition is a common tool to fabricate thin films for countless applications. The local processes that appear when the material condenses from the gas phase on the surface can be studied by molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods. However, also long range effects play a crucial role for the overall morphology and the properties of deposited thin films. An example for this is the self-shadowing effect, which has strong influence on the formation of the columnar structure often found in non-epitaxial films. Simulating this effect requires large volumes with a huge number of particles. Ballistic on-lattice simulations allow a simplification of the involved physics by tying the position of the particles to integer coordinates on a periodic lattice. Despite being used since decades, the simulation grid introduces an often neglected anisotropy that influences the structure and morphology of the simulated films. This problem is studied and a work-around is proposed.