Molecular dynamics simulations of atomic assembly in the process of GaN film growth

Molecular dynamics simulations using a Coulomb–Buckingham potential have been used to investigate the process of wurtzite GaN films growth, including the appearance of films in early stage, regulation of growth, structure of the surface and the dynamic features. The simulations show that the N atoms and Ga atoms are absorbed on the lattice of substrate and take on a distinct sandwich structure. Time evolution of the mean square displacements and diffusion coefficient of the deposited atoms are observed, the results show that the clusters will become stable with the increase of time steps and the atoms reach the initial stable state after 25 ps; N atoms reach the equilibrium positions more quickly than Ga atoms. It is proved by radial distribution function and the ratio of vacancy of every deposited layer that the crystalline characters of the films will become better as the time steps increase and weaker from bottom to top. & 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.