A Multiscale Model of The Low-Temperature CVD of Silicon

Abstract

Among the semiconductor materials, silicon stands out for its technological, industrial, and scientific relevance. Its growth process has been widely studied, theoretically and experimentally, so that it's surface and gas phase kinetics are mostly known. In this work this knowledge was exploited to develop a 3D Kinetic Monte Carlo model that, combined consistently with a detailed fluid dynamic analysis of a CVD reactor and ab initio simulations of relevant surface processes, was used to investigate the surface and gas phase dynamics active during the film growth. The proposed mathematical model is thus able to link information coming from the atomic scale, such as the diffusion of hydrogen and silicon adatoms and dimers, with the surface microstructural evolution (density and shape of islands), and, finally, with the reactor operating parameters, such as pressure, temperature and gas phase composition.