Growth of beryllium thin films on beryllium (0001) surface: Influence of incident energy and incident angle by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

The morphology and microstructure of metallic thin films synthesized by magnetron sputtering deposition are sensitive to incident energy and incident angle. The role of incident energy and incident angle in films’ morphology evolution of the beryllium thin films’ growth on beryllium (0001) surface was studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The analytical bond order potential was used to represent the interatomic interactions, and the common neighbor analysis algorithm for crystal structures was used for the structural characterization of the simulated films. It is found that when the incident energy is between 1 eV and 20 eV, the increased incident energy is beneficial to grow uniform crystal films and, when the incident energy is greater than 15 eV, the interstitial atoms formed inside the films. Furthermore, under the small incident angle conditions, the morphology of a smooth surface was formed, which means that the vertical incident conditions are desired for the growth of high quality films. In short, vertically inserted atoms with hyperthermal energy (5–10 eV) are more propitious for the growth of perfect crystal Be thin films. The obtained results can be used to guide the experiment.