Mathieu Bouville et al 2006 Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 14 433 doi:10.1088/0965-0393/14/3/007
Mathieu Bouville1, Shenyang Hu2, Long-Qing Chen3, Dongzhi Chi1 and David J Srolovitz1,4,5
Show affiliationsPolycrystalline thin films can be unstable with respect to island formation (agglomeration) through grooving where grain boundaries intersect the free surface and/or thin film–substrate interface. We develop a phase-field model to study the evolution of the phases, composition, microstructure and morphology of such thin films. The phase-field model is quite general, describing compounds and solid solution alloys with sufficient freedom to choose solubilities, grain boundary and interface energies and heats of segregation to all interfaces. We present analytical results which describe the interface profiles, with and without segregation, and confirm them using in numerical simulations. We demonstrate that the present model accurately reproduces theoretical grain boundary groove angles both at and far from equilibrium. As an example, we apply the phase-field model to the special case of a Ni(Pt)Si (nickel/platinum silicide) thin film on an initially flat silicon substrate.
Soft matter, liquids and polymers
Issue 3 (April 2006)
Received 1 September 2005, in final form 26 January 2006
Published 23 March 2006
Mathieu Bouville et al 2006 Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 14 433