DSMC-Neutrals Case Study - TCVD with Shower Head Simulation
DSMC-Neutrals is a 3D rarefied gas analysis software package that utilizes the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. By employing an unstructured mesh, it enables simulations of complex geometries. It also supports chemical reaction calculations, making it suitable not only for simulating rarefied gas flows within vacuum chambers but also for modeling thin-film deposition in semiconductor manufacturing processes such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). If reading this article has made you even slightly interested in rarefied gas analysis or gas flow simulation, please feel free to contact us at any time to request materials or for further information.
Thermal CVD with Shower Head Simulation
The following presents a case study of simulation analysis of gas flow within a showerhead-type CVD system. The model overview is as follows. The diameter of the showerhead nozzles is approximately 1 mm, and there are 42 nozzles. Although the model is smaller than the actual device, results with equivalent computational accuracy can be obtained even for larger-scale systems. For the geometry described here, if the pressure is approximately 1 Pa, results can be obtained in about half a day by performing parallel computations, even if the internal diameter of the device is approximately 1 m. DSMC-Neutrals enables CVD simulations that account for chemical reactions, allowing users to investigate film deposition rates on substrates and concentration distributions of various particle species. It also supports simulations of deposition models that account for evaporation and adsorption. Furthermore, it can be applied to evaluate the conductance of equipment in gas flows within medium-vacuum environments - a capability not available in free molecular flow simulation software.
▲ The Entire Computational Domain and Boundary Conditions (1/4-Symmetric Model)
▲ Details of the Showerhead and Inlet Conditions
▲ Pressure distribution [Pa]
▲ Density distribution [/m3]
▲ Temperature Distribution [K]
▲ Velocity distribution [m/s]
▲ Velocity vector distribution [m/s]
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▲ Z-dependence of the pressure distribution [Pa] in the X-Y plane
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▲ Z-dependence of the density distribution [/m3] in the X-Y plane
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▲ Z-dependence of the temperature distribution [K] in the X-Y plane