Phase‐field modeling of the effect of interfacial energy on pyrolytic carbon morphology in chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

A conserved phase‐field model is proposed to investigate the effect of interfacial energy on the morphological evolution of the pyrolytic carbon deposit in chemical vapor deposition. The equilibrium geometry of carbon deposit islands is analytically predicted, of which the contact angle was controlled through the boundary conditions of the phase‐field parameter at the substrate surface according to the Young‐Laplace equation. Simulations of deposit growth are carried out for single and multi island nucleation. It is clarified that the island morphology depends on the magnitude of the interface energy. It is also observed that high interface energy results in large island size fluctuation. (© 2010 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)