STUDY ON ION-BEAM-ASSISTED DEPOSITION OF THIN AU FILMS BY MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS SIMULATION

The ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) of thin Au films with a very l ow ion energy was simulated by molecular dynamics methods with the ato m interaction potential of embedded atom methods. IBAD results are com pared with the film growth without ion assistance and the film growth with energetic atom deposition. The effects of the arrival ratio of io n-to-atom, the energy of ions, and off-normal ion incidence on the fil m growth are discussed. Simulation results show that a low ion energy and high arrival ratio of ion-to-atom can result in him growth in the layer-by-layer mode. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.