Abstract

Polycrystalline thin films, deposited from a vapour phase, often show a columnar morphology. We present computer simulations of a 2D model of the polycrystalline growth process. The model consists of randomly oriented squares, growing from a line. We find, that the characteristic length scale <Δx> of the growing surface (average edge length projected on the substrate) diverges as a function of time according to a power law <x>∼tp, with p≈0.52.