Modelling a Growth Instability in a Stressed Solid

Abstract

The growth of crystalline silicon from the amorphous phase in the presence of an applied stress is modelled using advanced numerical methods. The crystal region is modelled as a linear elastic solid and the amorphous as a viscous fluid with a time-dependent viscosity to reflect structural relaxation. Appropriate coupling conditions across the boundary are defined, and both problems are solved using a symmetric-Galerkin boundary integral method. The interface is advanced in time using the level set technique. The results match well with experiments and support the proposed kinetic mechanism for the observed interface growth instability.