Multiscale Modeling in Chemical Vapor Deposition Processes: Models and Methodologies

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an established process for the production of thin solid films for industrial and scientific applications for more than 30 years. CVD is a multiscale process; the process per se takes place in a reactor of the order of cm or even m in average linear size, but the properties of the end product, i.e. the deposited film, refer to micro-/nano- or even atomic scales. Two important cases can be distinguished: (1) deposition over a patterned surface consisting of features such as trenches or holes with dimensions from μm to tens of nm and (2) deposition over an initially flat surface and subsequent growth of nano-/micro-roughness on the film surface. Based on these cases, over the years, several multiscale models and methodologies have been proposed for the design, analysis and optimization of the CVD process taking into account information from the different scales. In this work, we review these multiscale models and methodologies in terms of the individual models that have been used in each scale, the linking or coupling between the models and the information that is transferred from one scale to another, and the parallel computing techniques accelerating the computations.