Large artificial anisotropic growth rate in on-lattice simulation of obliquely deposited nanostructures

On-lattice particle simulation is one of the most common types of Monte Carlo simulations used in studying the dynamics of film growth. We report the observation of a large artificial anisotropic growth rate variation owing to the fixed arrangement of particles in an on-lattice simulation of oblique angle deposition. This unexpectedly large anisotropy is not reported in previous literatures and substantially affects the simulation outcomes such as column angle and porosity, two of the most essential quantities in obliquely deposited nanostructures. The result of our finding is of interest to all on-lattice simulations in obliquely deposited films or nanostructures.