MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF REFLOW PROCESS OF SPUTTERED ALUMINUM FILMS

It is important that aluminum films fill the grooves on silicon substr ates if high-density devices are to be produced. In this paper, we cal culate the changes in the free-surface profiles of deposited aluminum films in a high-temperature reflow process on flat and grooved substra tes using a molecular dynamics simulation, We use an atomic-scale mode l to analyze the micron-scale flow on the substrates. The relationship s between droplet formation and the parameters of initial film-thickne ss distribution, aluminum film temperature, and bond energy between th e aluminum and substrate atoms are also investigated, When the film at the bottom of the groove walls is thick, film breaks are observed at the top of the groove walls and a large volume of the film flows into the bottom of the groove. We also calculate the change in the aluminum -film profiles for a high-temperature sputtering deposition process.