Investigation of cluster size and cluster incident energy effect on film surface roughness for ionized cluster beam deposition

Abstract

Molecular dynamic simulation is used to investigate the influence of cluster size and cluster incident energy upon a Cu–Co magnetic film produced using the ionized cluster beam deposition process. The Co–Co, Cu–Cu, and Cu–Co atomic interactions are modeled using the many-body, tight-binding potential method, and the interface width is used to characterize the surface roughness properties at both transient and final state conditions. The results of this study indicate that the surface roughness of the deposited magnetic film is lower when a smaller incident cluster size is used. This observation is valid for all stages of the deposition process. Furthermore, it is determined that the nature of the relationship between cluster size and the produced film surface property is influenced by the cluster incident energy parameter. When the cluster incident energy is lower than an optimal value, it is observed that the produced film surface property is strongly dependent on the cluster size. However, when the value of the cluster incident energy falls between this optimal value and a critical cluster incident energy value, the correlation between cluster size and surface roughness is not so pronounced. Finally, when the cluster incident energy is higher than the critical value, it is noted that there is no significant relationship between cluster size and the resulting film surface property.