Initial stages of MnAs/GaAs(0 0 1) epitaxy studied by RHEED azimuthal scans

• Published in: Surface science Vol. 600; no. 18; pp. 3950 - 3955
• Main Authors: Braun, Wolfgang, Satapathy, Dillip K., Ploog, Klaus H.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.09.2006; Amsterdam Elsevier Science; New York, NY
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Heteroepitaxy; Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); Nucleation; Physics; Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED); Surface structure; Heteroepitaxy; Nucleation; Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED); Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); Surface structure; Molecular beam epitaxy; RHEED; Film growth
• ISSN: 0039-6028; 1879-2758
• DOI: 10.1016/j.susc.2006.01.106

We study the nucleation phase of molecular beam epitaxy of (hexagonal) MnAs on (cubic) GaAs (0 0 1) using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) azimuthal scans. The nucleation proceeds from a non-reconstructed initial stage through randomly oriented small nuclei and two orientation stages to the final single-phase epitaxial orientation. The fascinatingly complex nucleation process contains elements of both Volmer–Weber and Stranski–Krastanov growth. The measurement demonstrates the potential of high-resolution RHEED techniques to assess details of the surface structure during epitaxy.