MULTICOMPONENT MULTILAYER RANDOM IRREVERSIBLE DEPOSITION MODEL .1. A MEAN-FIELD STUDY

A general mean field formalism for the two-component multilayer compet itive growth processes by random irreversible deposition is presented. Overhangs and screening effects are ignored. The effects of the indiv idual rates of the elementary act of deposition on the extent of growt h, the overall growth rates (or currents) of the individual components and the composition at each deposited layer and in the bulk of the de posit are analysed. Transient and asymptotic behaviours of such quanti ties are derived. Various limiting growth situations of practical impo rtance, namely poisoning of the growth of one component by the other, blocking of the multilayer growth by the monolayer coating of one of t he components etc., are discussed in detail as special cases. Generali zation of the formalism for more than two components is also indicated .