Three-dimensional simulation of film microstructure produced by glancing angle deposition

A novel three-dimensional (3D) ballistic deposition simulator 3D-FILMS has been developed for the modeling of thin film deposition and structure. The simulator features a ballistic transport algorithm to model incident specie s with angular distributions appropriate to physical vapor deposition syste ms. Two-tiered data structuring is employed in order to enable the simulato r to run using memory resources available to workstations. The simulator ha s been applied to a unique class of thin films grown by the technique of gl ancing angle deposition (GLAD). These films exhibit low bulk density due to an internal structure consisting of isolated microcolumns, which can be en gineered into a variety of 3D forms. Because of their inherent 3D morpholog y, created by a combination of complex substrate motion and 3D shadowing, G LAD films represent an ideal test subject for 3D simulation. Scanning elect ron microscope images of films are presented together with simulation resul ts, which correctly reproduce aspects of column morphology, column growth c ompetition and extinction, and film bulk density. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(00)03805-7].