Structure below the growing surface

¹ Department of Chemical Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot 76100, Israel
² Polymers and Colloids Group, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University Madingley Road, CB30HE Cambridge, UK
³ School of Physics and Astronomy, Raymond and Beverley Faculty of Exact Sciences Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

Received: 28 March 2006
Accepted: 10 May 2006

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the statistical properties of surfaces growing under deposition of material. Yet it is clear that a theory describing the evolution of a surface should at the same time describe the properties of the bulk buried underneath. Clearly, the structure of the bulk is relevant for many practical purposes, such as the transport of electric current in devices, transport of fluids in geological formations and stress transmission in granular systems. The present paper demonstrates explicitly how models describing deposition can provide us with information on the structure of the bulk. Comparison of an analytic model with a simulation of a discrete growth model reveals an interesting long-range tail in the density-density correlation in the direction of deposition.