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Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of Metallic Nanoislands Grown by Physical Vapor Deposition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2015

Abuhanif K. Bhuiyan ,
S. K. Dew  and
M. Stepanova
Abuhanif K. Bhuiyan*
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2V4 National Institute for Nanotechnology NRC, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2M9
S. K. Dew*
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2V4
M. Stepanova*
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nanotechnology NRC, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2M9
*
Email:[email protected]
Email:[email protected]
Corresponding author.Email:[email protected]
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Abstract

We report kinetic Monte-Karlo (KMC) simulation of self-assembled synthesis of nanocrystals by physical vapor deposition (PVD), which is one of most flexible, efficient, and clean techniques to fabricate nanopatterns. In particular, self-assembled arrays of nanocrystals can be synthesized by PVD. However size, shape and density of self-assembled nanocrystals are highly sensitive to the process conditions such as duration of deposition, temperature, substrate material, etc. To efficiently synthesize nanocrystalline arrays by PVD, the process control factors should be understood in detail. KMC simulations of film deposition are an important tool for understanding the mechanisms of film deposition. In this paper, we report a KMC modeling that explicitly represents PVD synthesis of self-assembled nanocrystals. We study how varying critical process parameters such as deposition rate, duration, temperature, and substrate type affect the lateral 2D morphologies of self-assembled metallic islands on substrates, and compare our results with experimentally observed surface morphologies generated by PVD. Our simulations align well with experimental results reported in the literature.

Keywords

82B2482B2682D2082D2582D80Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation (KMC)nanocrystalsnanotechnology
Type
Research Article
Information
Communications in Computational Physics , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 49 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Global Science Press Limited 2011

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