A role of dislocation-induced coalescence in the formation of a cluster structure in deposited films

In this manuscript we explored the evolution of a cluster structure in the deposited copper layers in the temperature range of 50K to 500K using the method of molecular dynamics. It has been shown that at a high degree of surface occupancy, the processes of atomic ordering have a nondiffusing character and are conditioned by a collective motion of atoms in the clusters. The temperature dependence of a phenomenon of dislocation-induced coalescence (DIC), which consists in the growth of fcc clusters due to the decrease in amount of hcp clusters as a consequence of dislocation migration, has been studied. It has been shown that the dislocation-induced coalescence plays an essential role in the cluster structure formation in the explored temperature range. With a drop in temperature, the DIC-value increases during the processes of structure formation in the deposited films. The onset of a DIC stage shifts towards the domain of higher density of the surface layer. ► In this manuscript we explored the evolution of a cluster structure in the deposited copper layers in the temperature range of 50K to 500K using the method of molecular dynamics. ► It has been shown that at a high degree of surface occupancy, the processes of atomic ordering have a nondiffusing character and are conditioned by a collective motion of atoms in the clusters. ► The temperature dependence of a phenomenon of dislocation-induced coalescence (DIC), which consists in the growth of fcc clusters due to the decrease in amount of hcp clusters as a consequence of dislocation migration, has been studied. ► It has been shown that the dislocation-induced coalescence plays an essential role in the cluster structure formation in the explored temperature range.