As integrated circuits are advancing toward smaller device features, step-coverage in submicron trenches and holes in thin film deposition are becoming of concern. Deposition consists of gas flow in the vapor phase and film growth in the solid phase. A deposition profile simulator using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method has been developed to investigate deposition profile characteristics on small trenches which have nearly the same dimension as the mean free path of molecules. This simulator can be applied to several deposition processes such as sputter deposition, and atmospheric- or low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. In the case of low-pressure processes such as sputter deposition, upstream boundary conditions of the trenches can be calculated by means of rarefied gas flow analysis in the reactor. The effects of upstream boundary conditions, molecular collisions, sticking coefficients, and surface migration on deposition profiles in the trenches were clarified.
Particle-based fluid dynamics: Comparison of different Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook models and the direct simulation Monte Carlo method for hypersonic flows
