[Sci-all-l] Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

[Luc Peterson]

The Physics and Astronomy department presents the next in our series  
of summer student research presentations.

Monday, September 26, 2005
Sanders' Physics Auditorium, Room 207
Tea and Cookies at 3:15 pm
Presentation begins at 3:30 pm

Marco Almeida

"Atomic Process of Oblique Angle Deposition of Copper on Crystalline  
Copper
Substrates Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations"

This investigation makes use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations as a
method to examine the degree to which controlled variations in  
parameters
such as projectile energy and angle of incidence affect the sticking
coefficient and surface diffusion of a Cu atom incident on face-centered
cubic (FCC) Cu substrates of different orientations.  Interests in
competitive texture growth and growth morphology in conventional thin
films were the foremost motivations for this study due to their  
respective
richness in both practical application and pure scientific curiosity.
Results of the study indicate that the sticking coefficient decreases  
with
respect to increments in projectile energy.  The opposite trend is  
seen in
surface diffusion, which decreases as one increases the energy of the
projectile and the angle of incidence.  Moreover, the hypothesized
dependence of these values on substrate orientation was explored,  
observed
in higher energy regimes, and subsequently elucidated to be due to the
distinct geometry of the various textures.  Furthermore, the phenomenon
known as steering was discernable in our simulation results.  Our
investigation also resulted in the development of computer programs to
facilitate data analysis, the details of which are critically discussed.
The subject is abundant in possible future research, with the subsequent
goal being an investigation into the likely dependence of these terms on
the azimuthal angle, as well as performing similar studies for  
substrates
of other atomic composition.

Hope to see you there,
The Physics and Astronomy Majors' Committee