Gas–surface reactions in the growth of dielectric films by chemical vapor deposition: The role of nonequilibrium surface diffusion of adsorbed precursors

A similarity between the diffusion equation and the Schrödinger equation is used to treat the problem of gas–surface reactions, with consideration given to the coupled processes of adsorption, surface chemical conversion, energy relaxation into the bulk, and surface diffusion over a regular one-dimensional chain of active surface sites. It is found that, in accordance with qualitative physical considerations, the nonequilibrium surface diffusion of the reaction precursor results, with an appreciable probability, in the formation of products not only at the initially attacked surface site, but also at neighboring sites.