Early stage of Ge growth on Si(001) vicinal surfaces with an 8° miscut along[110]

Abstract

The atomistic pathway towards the growth of semiconductors heterostructures on vicinal surfaces is investigated in a special experiment. A step-by-step study of the early stages of Ge deposition at T = 873 K on a 8°o ff Si͑001͒ surface miscut along ͓110͔ is performed by scanning tunneling microscopy ͑STM͒. The microscopic processes occurring during growth are identified. Highly resolved STM images show how double height steps, which characterize the clean substrate, evolve by a step flow process generated by addimer chains located at specific positions. This process leads to the formation of metastable single domains until the development of ͕105͖ faceted ripples extending along the whole surface in the miscut direction.

Self-assembled Si0.80Ge0.20 nanoripples on Si(1 1 10) substrates

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] On vicinal Si͑001͒ surfaces with miscut angles of Ͻ 4°along a ͗110͘ direction undulations perpendicular to the miscut direction are observed. 11 This phenomenon was initially believed to be strain-driven 1 but could later be shown to be essentially due to a kinetic step-bunching mechanism 3,11 that is strongest on pure Si surfaces.…”

Self-assembly of Ge quantum dots on Silicon: An example of controlled nanomanufacturing

“…8 • -10 • along [110] direction) Si(001) surfaces exhibit a rippled morphology along [110] resulting from the complex interplay of a variety of kinetic factors and diffusion anisotropy [13]. Although studies where a clever use was made of such instabilities exist [11,14,15], an investigation of the very early nucleation stages of the islands at the nanoscale has only started in recent years [16]. Here, we report additional observations of Ge growth obtained on Si(001) substrates whose systematic analysis is underway.…”

Step-step interaction on vicinal Si(001) surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

“…The control of the steps morphology through step bunching, faceting, annealing, and alloying 5,6 has been widely adopted to prepare nanostructures on metals 7 and semiconductors. [8][9][10] In this latter category, Si͑001͒ and Si͑111͒ vicinal surfaces have been used extensively to the scope. 11 Apart from being fascinating for their technological potential, surface steps certainly constitute an area of focus of modern surface physics.…”