Modeling solid-state dewetting of a single-crystal binary alloy thin films

Abstract

Dewetting of a binary alloy thin film is studied using a continuum many-parameter model that accounts for the surface and bulk diffusion, the bulk phase separation, the surface segregation, and the particle formation. An analytical solution is found for the quasistatic equilibrium concentration of a surface-segregated atomic species. This solution is factored into the nonlinear and coupled evolution partial differential equations (PDEs) for the bulk composition and surface morphology. The stability of a planar film surface with respect to small perturbations of shape and composition is analyzed, revealing the dependence of the particle size on major physical parameters. The computations show various scenarios of the particle formation and the redistribution of the alloy components inside the particles and on their surface. In most situations, for the alloy film composed initially of 50% A and 50% B atoms, core-shell particles are formed, and they are located atop a wetting layer that is modestly rich in the B phase. Then the particle shell is the nanometric segregated layer of the A phase, and the core is the alloy that is modestly rich in the A phase.