Material removal at atomic and close-to-atomic scale by high-energy photon: a case study using atomistic-continuum method

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light plays an important role in various fields such as material characterization and semiconductor manufacturing. It is also a potential approach in material fabrication at atomic and close-to-atomic scales. However, the material removal mechanism has not yet been fully understood. This paper studies the interaction of a femtosecond EUV pulse with monocrystalline silicon using molecular dynamics (MD) coupled with a two-temperature model (TTM). The photoionization mechanism, an important process occurring at a short wavelength, is introduced to the simulation and the results are compared with those of the traditional model. Dynamical processes including photoionization, atom desorption, and laser-induced shockwave are discussed under various fluencies, and the possibility of single atomic layer removal is explored. Results show that photoionization and the corresponding bond breakage are the main reasons of atom desorption. The method developed can be further employed to investigate the interaction between high-energy photons and the material at moderate fluence.