Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Submonolayer Growth of NiTi Alloy Thin Films

Abstract

A Monte Carlo model for simulation of the sub-monolayer growth of NiTi alloy thin film on the triangular substrate lattice is presented. Three principal dynamic processes are considered in the description of thin film growth: deposition, diffusion and re-evaporation. The diffusion activation energy calculated by embedded atom method (EAM) is related to the types of the atoms: it is equal to the energy difference between the total energy of the system before and after the happening of the diffusion. The influences of the substrate temperature and the deposition rate on the transitions of island morphologies in thin film growth at the initial stage have been studied in detailed. The results show that with the increase of the substrate temperature or the decrease of the deposition rate, the size of the island increases, and the number of islands and the single adatom decreases.