Atomistic Simulation of Physical Vapor Deposition of Optical Thin Films

Abstract

A review of the methods and results of atomistic modeling of the deposition of thin optical films and a calculation of their characteristics is presented. The simulation of various processes in a vacuum chamber, including target sputtering and the formation of film layers, is considered. Methods for calculating the structural, mechanical, optical, and electronic properties of thin optical films and film-forming materials are discussed. The application of these methods to studying the dependences of the characteristics of thin optical films on the main deposition parameters is considered. The simulation results are compared with experimental data.

Evaluating Stresses in SiO2 Thin Films Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

“…The REAXFF potential was evaluated first by running a tension test on a modeled silica crystal in LAMMPS. The results obtained (Figure 3 and Table 3) agree with previous MD studies [9], though these studies were performed using different forcefields. This enhances the confidence of using REAXFF for our simulation.…”