Coarsening phenomenon of Si clusters on artificial nucleation sites

Abstract

A coarsening phenomenon of Si clusters is investigated in the process of nucleation and growth. In the early stage of chemical vapor deposition, multiple fine clusters of Si are nucleated on the small portion of an artifical nucleation site. A large cluster emerges among the fine clusters and grows rapidly as the deposition proceeds. As a result, the site is occupied by only one large cluster, while the fine clusters seem to disappear. Such a phenomenon is responsible for the mechanism in which a single nucleus is selected to grow on the site.