title: Analytic description of competitive grain growth.
abstract: We describe an analytic model for polycrystalline thin film growth based on competition between grains with conic geometries. This model is valid for all film thicknesses and is verified using level set simulations in 2+1 dimensions. We study the effects of nonuniform initial grain distributions on growth statistics. These results provide a possible explanation for discrepancies between experimentally measured and theoretical scaling laws.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ophus
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Luber
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitlin