Molecular-Dynamics Simulation of Thin-Film Growth

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe epitaxial growth of thin films has been studied by molecular-dynamics computer simulation. In these simulations atoms are projected towards a temperature-controlled substrate, and the equations of motion of all atoms are solved for a given interaction potential. The calculations give insight into the microscopic structure of thin films, the dynamics of the adsorption process, and they help answer the way in which substrate temperature, form of the substrate, flux of impinging atoms, and form of the interaction potential, affect epitaxial growth. Simulations were performed for monatomic and binary systems with spherically symmetric atomic interactions, and for systems in which the atoms are interacting via a three-body potential to simulate the epitaxial growth of silicon.