AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Surface Science Monday Sessions
       Session SS-MoP

Paper SS-MoP26
Computational Study of the Deposition of Metal-Oxide Thin Films

Monday, October 31, 2005, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall C&D

Session: Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: J.M. McKillip, University of Florida
Authors: J.M. McKillip, University of Florida
S.R. Phillpot, University of Florida
S.B. Sinnott, University of Florida
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Thin film deposition of SrTiO@sub 3@ is currently a popular area of research due to its widespread use in electronic applications and the motivation to shrink electronic components. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is an effective deposition process yielding dense, homogeneous thin films. Here, classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to determine the mechanisms involved in PLD. The simulations show that collisions that occur between the incident particles and the substrate can induce chemical reactions. The simulations consider the deposition of SrO and TiO@sub 2@ molecules with a kinetic energy between .1 and 1 eV/atom on a (001) surface of SrTiO@sub 3@. The effects of impact energy, orientation of incident particles, and surface termination layer (SrO vs. TiO@sub 2@) are examined. The main surface phenomenon of interest is chemical changes that occur at the oxide surface due to the ablating particles. The simulation results are compared to experimental data, where available. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR-0426870).