Evolution of Ge/Si(100) island morphology at high temperature

Yangting Zhang, Margaret Floyd, K. P. Driver, Jeffery Drucker, Peter Crozier, David Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron energy-loss spectroscopy have been used to study the size, structure, and composition of Ge/Si(100) islands grown by molecular beam epitaxy at 700°C. It is found that the island evolution is qualitatively different than for growth at lower substrate temperatures. For growth at 1.4 ML/min, the composition is determined to be Si0.56Ge0.44 and appears to be independent of island size. A higher growth rate, 4.8 ML/min, kinetically stabilizes pure Ge pyramids prior to Si interdiffusion taking place. These pure Ge clusters are absent at the lower growth rate, demonstrating the influence of deposition rate on island evolution. This result indicates that deposition kinetics can control island composition and morphology without varying growth temperature and associated thermally activated processes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3623-3625
Number of pages3
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume80
Issue number19
DOIs
StatePublished - May 13 2002

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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