A molecular dynamics (MD) method was used to quantitatively investigate the surface characteristics during the early stages of thin-film deposition, focusing on the cases of Fe and Cu on a Cu(111) system. Specifically, flux calculations of the incoming atoms were performed by extensively measuring the trajectory near the artificially structured Fe or Cu step positioned on the Cu(111) surface. Differences in the surface morphologies of Fe and Cu deposition on the Cu(111) surface could be successfully explained in terms of surface diffusion after 2 ML deposition and impact cascade diffusion. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.