Simulations of faceted polycrystalline thin films: Asymptotic analysis Original Research Article

We have used a level set construction to simulate the growth of faceted polycrystalline thin films in 2 + 1 dimensions using the van der Drift model. The evolution of several different crystal geometries into their self-similar late-stage surfaces is described. Each simulation resulted in a columnar microstructure and growth statistics including grain diameter and area, RMS surface roughness and surface texture were collected at each time step. We describe the dependence of each of these statistical measures upon the crystal geometry.