Molecular dynamics-based ion-surface interaction models for ionized physical vapor deposition feature scale simulations

A procedure is presented for incorporating the results of atomistic simulations of ion-surface interactions into integrated circuit topographic simulations of ionized physical vapor deposition (PVD). Energy and angular dependent sticking probabilities for energetic Cu atoms impacting a {111} Cu surface, obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, were implemented in a simple Monte Carlo flux model. The resulting flux-averaged Cu sticking probability was found to vary significantly with position within submicron features and with the feature geometry. This illustrates the shortcomings of a constant (energy and angle independent) sticking probability model for ionized PVD. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)02652-7].