Island size distributions in submonolayer growth: Prediction by mean field theory with coverage dependent capture numbers

Körner, Martin; Einax, Mario; Maass, Philipp

doi:10.1103/physrevb.82.201401

Cited by 22 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The island size distribution (ISD) in the aggregation regime for the case of irreversible growth is expected to follow the generalized scaling form [15,[35][36][37][38] (s/b s N). The form of the master function f(x) depends on the details of the kinetics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The size of an island s is the total number of atoms in the island. Following the typical description of submonolayer growth [15,[35][36][37][38], we calculate the island size distribution N s and the island density ρ. N s is defined as the number of islands of size s. In general, it depends on the coverage θ. The length and width of an island is calculated by measuring the total number of bonds in the two horizontal directions along the perimeter of the island.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Submonolayer growth study using a solid-on-solid model for 2 × 1 reconstructed surfaces of diamond-like lattices

Ghosh

Ranganathan

2014

Surface Science

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Submonolayer growth study using a solid-on-solid model for 2 × 1 reconstructed surfaces of diamond-like lattices

Ghosh

Ranganathan

2014

Surface Science

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“…Much work has gone into finding an analytical solution to these by including the effects of island size, shape and the adatom diffusion profile on the substrate around islands. [141][142][143] The detailed study of capture numbers lies far beyond the scope of this simple introduction to nucleation theory and will not be given here.…”

Section: Atomistic Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of the Early Stages in Metal-on-Insulator Thin Film Deposition

Lü¹

2014

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Thin films consist of nanoscale layers of material that are used in many technological applications to either functionalize a surface or serve as parts in miniaturized devices. The properties of a film are closely related to its microstructure, which in turn can be tuned during film preparation. Thin film growth involves a multitude of atomic-scale processes that cannot always be easily studied experimentally. Therefore, different types of computer simulations have been developed in order to test theoretical models of thin film growth in a highly controlled way. To be able to compare simulation and experimental results, the simulations must be able to model events on experimental time-scales, i.e. several seconds or minutes. This is achievable with the kinetic Monte Carlo method.In this work, kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are used to model the initial growth stages of metal films on insulating, amorphous substrates. This includes the processes of island nucleation, three-dimensional island growth and island coalescence. Both continuous and pulsed vapor fluxes are investigated as deposition sources, and relations between deposition parameters and film morphology are formulated. Specifically, the film thickness at what is known as the "elongation transition" is studied as a function of the temporal profile of the vapor flux, adatom diffusivity and the coalescence rate. Since the elongation transition occurs due to hindrance of coalescence completion, two separate scaling behaviors of the elongation transition film thickness are found: one where coalescence occurs frequently and one where coalescence occurs infrequently. In the latter case, known nucleation behaviors can be used favorably to control the morphology of thin films, as these behaviors are not erased by island coalescence. Experimental results of Ag growth on amorphous SiO 2 that confirm the existence of these two "growth regimes" are also presented for both pulsed and continuous deposition by magnetron sputtering. Knowledge of how to avoid coalescence for different deposition conditions allows nucleation for metal-on-insulator material systems to be studied and relevant physical quantities to be determined in a way not previously possible. This work also aids understanding of the growth evolution of polycrystalline films, which in conjunction with advanced deposition techniques allows thin films to be tailored to specific applications.ii iii PREFACE

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“…These capture numbers have been studied in detail extensively by including the effects of island size and shape as well as the adatom diffusion profile on the substrate around islands, [29,66,67] though they will not be described here as this lies beyond the scope of this work. With regards to , if the coverage at island density saturation is known, it can be read off of the graphs in Figure 6 of reference [13].…”

Section: A) B)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of these two quantities allows for the calculation of a critical (layer) size which is different than that from the earlier theory. [27][28][29] These island growth dynamics tend to produce island morphologies which resemble wedding cakes, i.e., a stepped surface with short terraces between steps, and are commonly known as mounds.…”

Section: Nucleation and Island Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nano- and mesoscale morphology evolution of metal films on weakly-interacting surfaces

Lü¹

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Thin films are structures consisting of one or several nanoscale atomic layers of material that are used to either functionalize a surface or constitute components in more complex devices.Many properties of a film are closely related to its microstructure, which allows films to be tailored to meet specific technological requirements. Atom-by-atom film growth from the vapor phase involves a multitude of atomic processes that may not be easily studied experimentally in real-time because they occur in small length-(≤ Å) and timescales (≤ ns). Therefore, different types of computer simulation methods have been developed in order to test theoretical models of thin film growth and unravel what experiments cannot show. In order to compare simulated and experimental results, the simulations must be able to model events on experimental time-scales, i.e. on the order of microseconds to seconds. This is achievable with the kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) method.In this work, the initial growth stages of metal deposition on weakly-interacting substrates is studied using both kMC simulations as well as experiments whereby growth was monitored using in situ probes. Such film/substrate material combinations are widely encountered in technological applications including low-emissivity window coatings to parts of microelectronics components. In the first part of this work, a kMC algorithm was developed to model the growth processes of island nucleation, growth and coalescence when these are functions of deposition parameters such as the vapor deposition rate and substrate temperature.The dynamic interplay between these growth processes was studied in terms of the scaling behavior of the film thickness at the elongation transition, for both continuous and pulsed deposition fluxes, and revealed in both cases two distinct growth regimes in which coalescence is either active or frozen out during deposition. These growth regimes were subsequently confirmed in growth experiments of Ag on SiO2, again for both pulsed and continuous deposition, by measuring the percolation thickness as well as the continuous film formation thickness. However, quantitative agreement with regards to scaling exponents in the two growth regimes was not found between simulations and experiments, and this prompted the development of a method to determine the elongation transition thickness experimentally.Using this method, the elongation transition of Ag on SiO2 was measured, with scaling exponents found in much better agreement with the simulation results. Further, these measurement data also allowed the calculation of surface properties such as the terrace diffusion barrier of Ag on SiO2 and the average island coalescence rate. IIIn the second part of this thesis, pioneering work is done to develop a fully atomistic, on-lattice model which describes the growth of Ag on weakly-interacting substrates. Simulations performed using this model revealed several key atomic-scale processes occurring at the film/substrate interface and on islands which govern island...

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Island size distributions in submonolayer growth: Prediction by mean field theory with coverage dependent capture numbers

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

Submonolayer growth study using a solid-on-solid model for 2 × 1 reconstructed surfaces of diamond-like lattices

Submonolayer growth study using a solid-on-solid model for 2 × 1 reconstructed surfaces of diamond-like lattices

Dynamics of the Early Stages in Metal-on-Insulator Thin Film Deposition

Nano- and mesoscale morphology evolution of metal films on weakly-interacting surfaces

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