Effects of relaxation processes during deposition of anisotropic grains on a flat substrate

The ballistic deposition on a one-dimensional substrate of grains with one degree of freedom, called spin, is studied with respect to relaxation processes during deposition. The “spin” represents the grain anisotropy, e.g., its longest axis with respect to the vertical. The grains interact through some contact energy (J) and are allowed to flip with a probability q during deposition and relaxation. Different relaxation processes are investigated. The pile structure is investigated, i.e., the density and “magnetisation”, as a function of q and J. A percolation transition is found across which the cluster size changes from exponential-like to a power-law-like dependence. The differences between “ferromagnetic” and “anti-ferromagnetic”-like contact energies are emphasised as a function of q.