A generalized theory of thin film growth

This paper reports a theory of thin film growth that is generalized for arbitrary incidence angle during physical vapor deposition in two dimensions. The accompanying kinetic Monte Carlo simulations serve as verification. A special theory already exists for thin film growth with zero incidence angle, and another theory also exists for nanorod growth with a glancing angle. The theory in this report serves as a bridge to describe the transition from thin film growth to nanorod growth. In particular, this theory gives two critical conditions in analytical form of critical coverage, ΘI and ΘII. The first critical condition defines the onset when crystal growth or step dynamics stops following the wedding cake model for thin film growth. The second critical condition defines the onset when multiple-layer surface steps form to enable nanorod growth. Further, this theory also reveals a critical incidence angle, below which nanorod growth is impossible. The critical coverages, together with the critical incidence angle, defines a phase diagram of thin growth versus nanorod growth.