ALGORITHMS AND MODELS FOR CELLULAR BASED TOPOGRAPHY SIMULATION

A general simulation method for three-dimensional surface advancement has been developed and coupled with physical models for etching and de position. The surface advancement algorithm is based on morphological operations derived from image processing which are performed on a cell ular material representation. This method allows arbitrary changes of the actual geometry according to a precalculated etch or deposition ra te distribution and can support very complex structures with tunnels o r regions of material which are completely disconnected from other reg ions. Surface loops which result from a growing or etching surface int ersecting with itself are inherently avoided. The etch or deposition r ate distribution along the exposed surface is obtained from macroscopi c point advancement models which consider information about flux distr ibutions and surface reactions of directly and indirectly incident par ticles.