We study the surface dynamics of silicon nitride films deposited by UV-induced low pressure chemical vapor pressure. Atomic force microscopy measurements show that the surface reaches a scale invariant stationary state coherent wit the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. Discrete geometry techniques are oriented to extra morphological characteristics of surface and bulk which corresponds to computer simulated photodeposit. This allows to determine the physical origin of KPZ scaling to be al ow value of the surface sticking probability, and connected to the surface concentration of activate charged centers, which permits to start the evaluation of the Monte Carlo-molecular dynamics simulator.

Surface atomistic structures of a-SiN:H vacuum ultra violet (VUV) photodeposited on InP(100) have been investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and index of refraction (RI). After simultaneous VUV irradiation (185 nm) and heating (400–650 K), the onset of nucleation shown SiN:H islands on the InP substrate prior to the deposition stage. We have proposed a new photodeposition model taking into account the molecular dynamics (MD) of the adsorbed species imposed to a Monte Carlo (MC) computation technique. Features estimated or obtained through experimental validation are emphasized. This allows the evaluation of both the simulator and physical model. Also deposition kinetics, in addition to surface and bulk features, are clearly evidenced and simulated in 3-D images. To this end, we developed analytical tools to exactly track discrete boundaries of the deposition bulk and pores from simulation data, in the form of voxels for each site of the face centered cubic (fcc) referential. These tools use a discrete-topology approach to isolate, count and measure individual pores, as well as the top surface features. Discrete neighborhoods in the fcc referential are also considered in the framework of the mathematical morphology in order to correctly measure discrete approximations of Euclidean surface and other morphological parameters. These tools helped to quantify the simulator results, in order to compare them with experimental data and also validate the physical model. 3-D visualization of surfaces and pores further aided us to see in an organized fashion the output of the simulator, e.g. by sorting pore features by size, or location in the bulk.

We report on an accurate validation of a new Monte Carlo three-dimensional model. Simulations up to 1200 Å layer thickness have been carried out for amorphous thin film layers of SiN:H deposited at low temperature (400–650 K) on (100) InP, by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV, ∼185 nm)-induced chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The computer simulations in the mesoscopic-submicronic range are compared with atomic force microscopy and index of refraction measurements. The reconstituted surface roughness and the voids discrete representations of the bulk are found to be in good agreement with these measurements. Simultaneously at around 450 K (at ∼175°C), thermal characteristic evolution of the both surface roughness and bulk porosity showed a transition from rough to smooth deposition and from low to high density.