Effects of Electrostatic Interaction on the Formation of a Particle Depletion Zone by Charged Nanoparticles during the Chemical Vapor Deposition of Si Processes

The electrostatic potential energy and surface charge density of charged nanoparticles (CNPs) were calculated via the finite element method (FEM). We combined the FEM results with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations to study the dynamics of a nonclassical crystallization system comprising numerous small CNPs and a large CNP. Afterward, we investigated the evolution of a particle depletion zone around the large CNP during the low-temperature chemical vapor deposition of Si. The FEM calculation results showed that small and large CNPs having like charges attracted each other when they were in close proximity, because opposite charges were induced on the surfaces of particles adjacent to each other. The kMC simulation results showed that this attraction resulted in a relatively small particle depletion zone around the large CNP. During the formation of the depletion zone, charges accumulated on the large CNP. The accumulated charge resulted in repulsion between the small and large CNPs and a gradual expansion of the particle depletion zone. Further analysis indicated that the imbalance between the numbers of positively and negatively charged CNPs influenced the structural evolution of the particle depletion zone.