A role of dislocation-induced coalescence in the formation of a cluster structure in deposited films

► In this manuscript we explored the evolution of a cluster structure in the deposited copper layers in the temperature range of 50 K to 500 K using the method of molecular dynamics. ► It has been shown that at a high degree of surface occupancy, the processes of atomic ordering have a nondiffusing character and are conditioned by a collective motion of atoms in the clusters. ► The temperature dependence of a phenomenon of dislocation-induced coalescence (DIC), which consists in the growth of fcc clusters due to the decrease in amount of hcp clusters as a consequence of dislocation migration, has been studied. ► It has been shown that the dislocation-induced coalescence plays an essential role in the cluster structure formation in the explored temperature range.