Onset of shadowing-dominated growth of Ag films in glancing angle deposition: Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation

► The nanorods grow aslant due to shadowing anisotropy but vertically due to shadowing isotropy. ► The growth exponents in normal deposition and GLAD are found similar in the early stages. ► We demonstrate that shadowing overpower smoothing effects at certain thickness. ► Transition from two dimensional to 3D islanded growth under GLAD is demonstrated. ► The critical rotate of the nanorods just vertical to the substrate has been revealed.