A. Yanguas-Gil, J. Cotrino, A. Barranco, A.R. González-Elipe
Physical Review Letters, 96 (2006) 236101 (1-4)
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.236101

The microstructure and the scaling properties of films grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition are reproduced with a discrete model that takes into account the angular distribution function of the particles and the lateral growth of the films. Both the experimental and simulated surfaces exhibit a granular microstructure and an anomalous scaling behavior characterized by values of the growth exponent β that vary with the scale of measurement. Depending on the angular distribution function used in the model, values of β ranging from 0.86 to 0.2 are obtained.