Atomistic comparative study of VUV photodeposited silicon nitride on InP(100) by simulation and atomic force microscopy

Abstract We report on an accurate validation of a new Monte Carlo three-dimensional model. Simulations up to 1200 A 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.