Molecular dynamics calculations of the early stages of thin film formation

In this contribution we will discuss recent results obtained from Molecular Dynamics (MD) calculations of early stages of thin film deposition for metal atoms and clusters on metal substrates. As a first example we will discuss the deposition of Cu atoms on a Pb single crystal surface. In this case our MD calculations could verify an experimentally observed new growth mode in deposition, which was named subsurface island growth. As a second example we will discuss the possibilities and processes occurring during thin Nm deposition, if instead of atoms clusters (consisting of up to a few hundred atoms) are used. As an example we present the deposition of Al cluster of different size (ranging from 60 atoms up to 1000 atoms per cluster) on a Cu surface.