Criteria for different growth modes of thin films

The possibilities to separate different growth modes of thin filsm are discussed using results of Monte Carlo simulation. The growth mode can be recognized from the time evolution of the coverage, the mean square deviation of the coverage, the estimated number of clusters on the substrate and snapshots at different stages of growth. In addition to defining and verifying the criteria for layer-by-layer and island modes, we can identify the intermediate simultaneous multilayer growth.