Mobility of large clusters on a semiconductor surface: Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation results

Abstract

The mobility of clusters on a semiconductor surface for various values of cluster size is studied as a function of temperature by kinetic Monte Carlo method. The cluster resides on the surface of a square grid. Kinetic processes such as the diffusion of single particles on the surface, their attachment and detachment to/from clusters, diffusion of particles along cluster edges are considered. The clusters considered in this study consist of 150–6000 atoms per cluster on average. A statistical probability of motion to each direction is assigned to each particle where a particle with four nearest neighbors is assumed to be immobile. The mobility of a cluster is found from the root mean square displacement of the center of mass of the cluster as a function of time. It is found that the diffusion coefficient of clusters goes as D = A(T)Nα where N is the average number of particles in the cluster, A(T) is a temperature-dependent constant and α is a parameter with a value of about –0.64 < α < –0.75. The value of α is found to be independent of cluster sizes and temperature values (170–220 K) considered in this study. As the diffusion along the perimeter of the cluster becomes prohibitive, the exponent approaches a value of –0.5. The diffusion coefficient is found to change by one order of magnitude as a function of cluster size.