Growth of metallic superlattices by sequential deposition of atoms

In an effort to better understand the formation, epitaxy, and interfacial properties of metallic superlattices, we have performed an exploratory molecular-dynamics (MD) study of the growth of a simple Lennard-Jones multilayer system. We find indeed that ``large'' heterostructures can be epitaxially grown using the technique of MD, a steady-state growth regime being rapidly attained. In the present model, we observe that growth is Volmer-Weber with, at any instant, three or four layers in formation. The interfaces, as a result, are not sharp and extend in all cases over two monolayers. Several possible improvements to the model will be discussed.