Size effects on the electronic structure of ErSb nanoparticles embedded in the GaSb(001) surface

Growth and properties of rare-earth arsenide InGaAs nanocomposites for terahertz generation

“…The increase in InGaAs overgrowth required to recover the streaky RHEED pattern is attributed to the increased surface roughness during the initial stages of III-V overgrowth. 66 This makes increasing depositions of RE-As more challenging since defects and roughening that begin at the RE-V/III-V interfaces have a cumulative effect on subsequent periods grown in the superlattice.…”

Surface-Mediated Tunable Self-Assembly of Single Crystal Semimetallic ErSb/GaSb Nanocomposite Structures

“…Meanwhile, ErSb surfaces (Figure a insert) show a mixed pattern with ordering along both [110] and [1̅10] directions consistent with the (1 × 4)/(4 × 1) pattern that forms on the surface of ErSb (001) thin films . These islands are elongated along [1̅10], resulting from anisotropic surface diffusion of Er and Ga adatoms along the Sb-dimer rows. ,, …”

“…27 These islands are elongated along [1̅ 10], resulting from anisotropic surface diffusion of Er and Ga adatoms along the Sb-dimer rows. 26,27,29 When a 2 ML thin layer of GaSb is subsequently deposited on the surface in Figure 2a, it does not immediately wet the exposed ErSb island surfaces (Figure 2b). The overgrown surface is characterized by 1−2 ML deep pits that have the same areal density as the starting 0.6 ML ErSb surface and terminated in the same (1 × 4)/(4 × 1) reconstruction.…”

“…In both cases, this preferred direction is attributed to faster diffusion along the [1̅ 10] oriented GaSb Sb-dimer rows. 26,27 The average diameter of the branched nanorods doubles from roughly 5 nm for 500 °C growth to 11 nm for 540 °C growth.…”

“…Thus the simultaneous growth of GaSb with Er just above the solubility limit yields ErSb nanoparticles phase segregated from a semiconducting GaSb matrix. Despite the effects of quantum confinement, these ErSb particles remain semimetallic in the GaSb even down to their smallest dimensions. − …”