Early stages of silicon nitride film growth studied by molecular dynamics simulations

The molecular dynamics method is used to simulate silicon nitride film grow th through atomic deposition on an amorphous silicon surface, which is mode led by the stochastic classical trajectory-ghost theory. For the first time , realistic semi-empirical interatomic potential including both two-body an d three-body interactions is employed to calculate the forces among deposit ed atoms. By the simulation we studied growth kinetics and the effects of s ubstrate temperature and kinetic energy of vaporized atoms on the film grow th. It is found that the film growth follows power law mechanism but with t wo different growth exponents in different growth stages, and changes of th e substrate temperature and atomic kinetic energy lead to various film morp hologies. This provides a possibility to precisely control the film propert ies, especially cluster size and compactness, by choosing suitable depositi on parameters. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.