Layered heteroepitaxial growth of germanium on Si(015) observed by scanning tunneling microscopy

• Published in: Surface science Vol. 301; no. 1; pp. 214 - 222
• Main Authors: Tomitori, M., Watanabe, K., Kobayashi, M., Iwawaki, F., Nishikawa, O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.01.1994; Amsterdam Elsevier Science; New York, NY
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electron, ion, and scanning probe microscopy; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Physics; Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Crystal growth; Semiconductor materials; Germanium; Heteroepitaxy; Silicon; Experimental study; Atomic structure; STM
• ISSN: 0039-6028; 1879-2758
• DOI: 10.1016/0039-6028(94)91301-3

Germanium growth on a Si(015) substrate was examined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on an atomic scale. The Ge deposition on a Si(001) substrate showed the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode, where the deposited films grew layer-by-layer up to a few ML followed by three-dimensional island growth with {015} facets. Thus the Ge films were deposited on the Si(015) substrate in this study. As expected, the deposited Ge layers exhibited the layered growth mode up to thicker than 10 ML at a growth temperature of 400°C. The surface and the step structures, which seemed deeply related to the layered growth mechanism, were observed with STM and discussed in detail.