Modelling a growth instability in a stressed solid

Abstract

The growth of crystalline silicon from the amorphous phase in the presence ofan applied stress is modelled using advanced numerical methods. The crystalregion is modelled as a linear elastic solid and the amorphous as a viscousfluid with a time-dependent viscosity to reflect structural relaxation.Appropriate coupling conditions across the boundary are defined, and bothproblems are solved using a symmetric-Galerkin boundary integral method. Theinterface is advanced in time using the level set technique. The results matchwell with experiments and support the proposed kinetic mechanism for theobserved interface growth instability.