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Virtual MBE - A Workshop on the Theory and Modeling of Molecular Beam Epitaxial Growth June 15-17, 1995
Background On June 15-17 1995, Virtual MBE, a workshop sponsored by the Center for Theory and Computation in Materials Science at NIST was held at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, CA. The focus of this workshop was the theory and modeling of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and the potential impact such modeling could have on the processing of electronic and opto-electronic materials in industry. Atendees were drawn from academia, government and industry and consisted of both theorists and experimentalists. The program was constructed to give equal weight to both theoretical and experimental considerations and to specifically confront theorists with the experimental challenges encountered by MBE growers. A description of the state of the art in computational modeling of MBE growth was provided by theorists, while challenges involving the modeling of specific materials systems were posed by experimentalists.Summary This format highlighted the large gap between current modeling efforts and the experimental world of MBE and led to much discussion among theorists regarding the best way to close this gap. This large gap exists in part because much theoretical work on MBE has focused on the asymptotic and scaling properties of highly simplified models for MBE that leave out many important details of specific materials systems. Such details are often irrelevant for studying the long-time behavior and morphology of MBE-grown surfaces, but are crucial for realistic modeling of the growth of just a few atomic layers - a situation commonly of the most interest to MBE growers of electronic materials for use in actual devices. Considerable optimism was expressed that the behavior of highly simplified MBE models (and other simple models for surface growth) would soon be well understood, but there was considerably more pessimism that robust, predictive models for real materials would soon be at hand. The primary reason for this is the lack of a coordinated effort by academic and/or industrial scientists to systematically develop and validate models for specific materials systems. There was widespread agreement, however, that a coordinated approach focusing on the development of a kinetic Monte Carlo model together with input from ab initio calculations and careful experimental validation could lead to such a robust model. The challenge is for one or more groups to undertake this task. There were several workshop members who expressed interest in becoming involved in such a collaborative effort. Although there was no formal working group organized at this workshop, members agreed to keep one another informed about possible future collaborations. This will be accomplished partially by using the NIST CTCMS Web server as a central location for information on new developments in the MBE modeling area. Since then, there have been several conversations and a few visits between workshop participants that are continuing to sow the seeds of eventual collaboration on the development of sophisticated MBE models.Workshop Proceedings The workshop proceedings will consist of papers submitted by the invited speakers and will appear in Computational Materials Science.Further Information For more information, contact:
Mark Gyure or
Jenna Zinck
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