Networking Behavior in Thin Film and Nanostructure Growth Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a network-based modeling approach to understand the growth dynamics of thin films and nanostructures, simplifying complex physical processes like shadowing and re-emission effects.

Contribution

It presents a novel network modeling method that maps surface growth steps to network components, offering new insights into thin film and nanostructure development.

Findings

Network model captures key physical effects

Simplifies analysis of growth dynamics

Initial results demonstrate effectiveness

Abstract

Thin film coatings have been essential in development of several micro and nano-scale devices. To realize thin film coatings various deposition techniques are employed, each yielding surface morphologies with different characteristics of interest. Therefore, understanding and control of the surface growth is of great interest. In this paper, we devise a novel network-based modeling of the growth dynamics of such thin films and nano-structures. We specifically map dynamic steps taking place during the growth to components (e.g., nodes, links) of a corresponding network. We present initial results showing that this network-based modeling approach to the growth dynamics can simplify our understanding of the fundamental physical dynamics such as shadowing and re-emission effects.