Growth mode variations of thin films on nano-faceted substrates

We have investigated the growth mode of thin films on substrates with a fac eted surface structure of a nanometer scale by means of computer simulation s. The simulations have been performed for various combinations of the grow th parameters such as the substrate temperature, the lattice mismatch betwe en the film and the substrate, the interaction between the him and substrat e atoms. In order to perform realistic growth simulations we have developed the molecular dynamics (MD) aided kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method. In the method MD deals with non-equilibrium structural relaxation of surface clus ters and KMC deals with thermally activated adatom migrations. The film gro wth is classified into three types. The growth is promoted in the valley re gion or in the ridge region, or it has no site preference, depending on the growth parameters. The relation between the film growth on faceted substra tes and that on flat substrates is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A . All rights reserved.