MODELING AND SIMULATION OF DIAMOND FILM GROWTH ON ADVANCED SUBSTRATES

THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A THEORETICAL MODEL OF DIAMOND FILM DEPOSITION SO THAT THERE WILL BE A SIMULATION GUIDE FOR EXPERIMENTAL WORK. THERE IS A CONCEPTUAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE ISING MODEL AND CELLULAR AUTOMATA (CA), BOTH OF WHICH USE ARRAYS OF CELLS WHOSE STATES DEPEND ON THE STATES OF THE NEIGHBORING CELLS. THE CELLULAR AUTOMAT (CA) MODEL USES "TRANSITION RULES" TO DETERMINE THE STATE CHANGES. THESE RULES CAN OPERATE AT A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL (I.E. DESCRIBE MUCH MORE COMPLEX PHENOMENA) THAN THE MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISING MODEL. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE CA MODEL COULD BE USED IN COMPLEX PROCESSES SUCH AS VAPOR DEPOSITION OF DIAMONDS. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE USE OF THE CA MODEL AND EXAMINE ITS UTILITY IN MODELING THIN FILM DIAMOND DEPOSITION FROM THE VAPOR PHASE. THE TECHNIQUE IS INDEPENDENT OF THE ACTUAL CHEMICAL BONDING WHETHER IT IS BASED ON TSUDA'S CARBON DEPOSITION FROM A METHANE ATMOSPHERE OR THE FRENKLACH-SPEAR CARBON DEPOSITION FROM AN ACETYLENE ATMOSPHERE. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DEVELOP A CA MODEL BASED ON THE MODEL OF TSUDA. CA SIMULATION OF THIS SITUATION WILL BE ILLUSTRATED. THE INITIAL GOAL OF THIS WORK IS TO PRODUCE SIMULATED DIAMOND GROWTH USING THIS MODEL.