Computer simulations of direct ion beam deposition of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) on silicon dioxide (SiO(2))

A three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the growth of approximately 300 energetic silicon atoms incident on SiO₂ substrates with 862 SiO₂ atoms has been performed with the atomic interactions modeled by an inter-atomic potential energy function for Si/SiO₂ mixed systems. The purpose was to investigate the crystallization behavior of negative silicon (Si−) on silicon dioxide (SiO ₂) substrates as a function of silicon ion beam energy and substrate temperature. Substrate temperature is one of the key variables in conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. In this research, the role of incident silicon kinetic energy of the silicon ion beam has been investigated. In the low temperature range, i.e., from room temperature to 300°C, an amorphous phase is formed regardless of the ion beam energy. At an intermediate temperature range, 350°C to 450°C, a partial crystallization, i.e., a mixture of crystallized and amorphous phases is observed.{09}At higher temperatures of 450°C to 550°C, fully crystallized silicon is obtained. A comparison of the molecular dynamics simulation results with experimental data of (Si−) on SiO₂ , glass substrate is made.