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Stress and morphology evolution during island growth
Chun-Wei Pao1, David J Srolovitz
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|May 23, 2006
Summary
Island growth simulations reveal that interfacial energy dictates island stress. Lower interfacial energy leads to stronger compressive stress in islands, a finding supported by analytical models.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Science
- Computational Physics
Background:
- Island formation on substrates is crucial for thin film growth.
- Understanding stress evolution in islands is key to controlling material properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between interfacial energy and island stress during growth.
- To analyze the stress-thickness product of islands under varying interfacial conditions.
Main Methods:
- Hybrid molecular-dynamics simulations were employed.
- Island growth on a substrate was modeled.
- Island stress evolution was monitored for different interfacial energies.
Main Results:
- A smaller island/substrate interfacial energy resulted in a stronger compressive stress-thickness product.
- Conversely, larger interfacial energy led to a weaker compressive stress-thickness product.
- Analytical models confirmed a linear relationship between stress-thickness product and substrate coverage.
Conclusions:
- Interfacial energy is a critical factor in determining island stress.
- The stress-thickness product is linearly dependent on substrate coverage under mechanical equilibrium.
- Simulation data validated the analytical predictions for island stress evolution.