Transition from island to layer growth of thin films: A Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract

The results of a Monte Carlo simulation of the process of thin film deposition on to a face of Kossel crystal as a substrate are presented. The island and the layer modes of film growth are illustrated by morphological observations at different supersaturations β. It is shown that the cluster growth shape differs noticeably from the theoretical equilibrium one and changes with β and time. The time dependence of the degree of coverage of the successive layers and the mean film height are measured for different β. For deposition on to the own substrate it is found that the interface width at the moment t 99 of 99% substrate coverage increases with β from about 2 to 10 monolayers, values being limiting for low and high β, respectively. The observed strong β dependence of the mean film height N 99 at t 99 is used for determination of the critical supersaturation β c for changing the mode of film growth. A very good quantitative agreement is established between the simulation data for N 99 and β c and the predictions of a recently proposed generalized theory of layer growth.