Simulation in thin film technology

Simulation and modeling find more and more their way into thin film technology. Beside theoretical models for layer design, pre-production design analysis, and real time process control, atomistic simulation techniques gain of importance. Here, especially classical procedures such as Direct Simulation and Particle-in-Cell Monte Carlo (DSMC/PIC-MC), kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) as well as quantum mechanical techniques based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) have to be mentioned. These methods are applied in order to investigate the material transport inside the coating facilities, the thin film growth in dependence of characteristic process conditions, and the optical and electronic thin film properties. By combination of these atomistic techniques in a suitable manner, a multiple scale simulation model can be realized for investigating the influence of specific process conditions on the resulting layer properties. The further extension of this virtual coater concept with respect to rate equation models enables the possibility to investigate also the interaction of laser irradiation with the modeled thin film structures. © 2015 SPIE