Mean field approach for describing thin film morphology: 2. Adatom life time

By means of the analytical expression of the decay of the number of rigid discs as a function of the fraction of covered surface, we are able to evaluate averages of stochastic variables related to the distribution of impenetrable discs. In particular, we consider the edge-edge mean distance between discs, λp, and the distance from the edge disc of a point chosen at random, δ. The second moment of δ and its connection to the adatom life time in thin film growth is highlighted and discussed on the basis of the comparison with Monte Carlo results. We also demonstrate numerically that the adatom life time in mean field coalescence is the same as that calculated in genuine coalescence