Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of plasma-surface reactions on heterogeneous surfaces

Abstract

Reactions of atoms and molecules on chamber walls in contact with low temperature plasmas are important in various technological applications. Plasma-surface interactions are complex and relatively poorly understood. Experiments performed over the last decade by several groups prove that interactions of reactive species with relevant plasma-facing materials are characterized by distributions of adsorption energy and reactivity. In this paper, we develop a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model that can effectively handle chemical kinetics on such heterogenous surfaces. Using this model, we analyse published adsorption-desorption kinetics of chlorine molecules and recombination of oxygen atoms on rotating substrates as a test case for the KMC model.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

plasma-surface interaction / kinetic Monte Carlo / plasma nano technology

References

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Acknowledgements

Daniil Marinov has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 752164. DM is grateful to Prof. Vasco Guerra for fruitful discussions about surface kinetics and KMC modelling.

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