Statistical investigations of the film-substrate interface during aluminum deposition on Ni(111) by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract The interface study during the film growth of Al on Ni (111) is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations with the conjunction of the Embedded Atom Method interaction potential. The substrate temperature was fixed to 300K. The results of this work showed that the interface adopts the same structure as the substrate, i.e., the triangular structure. The upper layers have imposed on some Al atoms of the first deposited layer an adsorption on the substrate bridges giving them the substrate interatomic distance in only one direction. However, other atoms adopt a median value between the interatomic distance of the substrate and that of the deposited film.