Effects of deposition angle in low-temperature metal (100) epitaxial growth

The effects of oblique incidence on the surface roughness in low-temperature Cu /Cu 100 epitaxial growth are investigated via kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, which include the effects of shadowing as well as short-range and long-range attraction. While the effects of deposition angle are found to be relatively weak at 200 K, at a slightly lower temperature 160 K both the surface roughness and the growth exponent depend strongly on deposition angle. These results resolve a long-standing puzzle regarding the growth behavior of Cu /Cu 100 over this temperature range. Our results also demonstrate that, in general, the effects of deposition angle must be considered in low-temperature growth even for moderate deposition angles.