Morphologies from slippery ballistic deposition model: a bottom-up approach for nanofabrication

We report pattern formation using a slippery ballistic deposition (SBD) model where growth germinates from a single site or from sites distributed periodically on a lattice. By changing the sticking probability p(s) and choosing systems with different lattice constants and symmetries, we demonstrate that a variety of patterns can be generated. These patterns can be further used as scaffolds for nanofabrication. We also demonstrate that by choosing a lateral sticking probability p(l) at the base that is different than p(s), one can control both the early and late time morphologies originating from a seed. Furthermore, we indicate a possible generalization of preparing patterns to higher dimensions that in principle can have potential technological applications for preparing grooves and scaffolds of specific shapes and periodicities.