Direct observation of strain relaxation in iron layers on W(110) by time-resolved STM

Time-resolved,in-situ-applied STM has been used to study the epitaxial growth of iron on W(110) at room temperature. By this way, sequences of STM images show directly the atomistics of the growth process on the surface. The first layer of iron on W(110) grows pseudomorphically without a preferred growth direction. Beginning with the second layer, the islands grow anisotropically with preferred growth in the [001]-direction. The generation of an ordered two-dimensional dislocation network starts at a coverage of 1.4 pseudomorphic monolayers to relax the misfit of 9.4%. A direct correlation of the creation of misfit dislocations in the second layer and the nucleation of the third-layer islands was found. Together with the onset of strain relaxation, the growth mode abruptly changes from layer-by-layer to statistical growth. A quantitative statistical analysis of the data allows to exactly determine the onset of relaxation, the vertical location of the dislocation lines, and the lateral extension of an island that is necessary to induce the formation of dislocations.     

Strain relief and growth optimization of GaSb on GaP by molecular beam epitaxy

In this paper, the impact of growth parameters on the strain relaxation of highly lattice mismatched (11.8%) GaSb grown on GaP substrate by molecular beam epitaxy has been investigated. The surface morphology, misfit dislocation and strain relaxation of the GaSb islands are shown to be highly related to the initial surface treatment, growth rate and temperature. More specifically, Sb-rich surface treatment is shown to promote the formation of Lomer misfit dislocations. Analysis of the misfit dislocation and strain relaxation as functions of the growth temperature and rate led to an optimal growth window for a high quality GaSb epitaxial layer on (001) GaP. With this demonstrated optimized growth, a high mobility (25?500?cm(2)?V (-1)?s(-1) at room temperature) AlSb/InAs heterostructure on a semi-insulating (001) GaP substrate has been achieved.     

晶体相场法模拟异质外延过程中界面形态演化与晶向倾侧

采用晶体相场模型研究了异质外延过程中失配应变与应力弛豫对外延层界面形态演化的影响, 并对由衬底倾角引起的外延层晶向倾侧进行了分析.研究结果表明: 在有一定倾角的衬底晶体上进行外延生长时,若衬底和外延层之间失配度较大 (ε>0.08),外延层中弹性畸变能会以失配位错的形式释放, 最终薄膜以稳定的流动台阶形式生长且外延层的晶向倾角与衬底倾角呈近似线性关系. 而当衬底和外延层之间失配度较小(ε<0.04)不足以形成失配位错时, 外延层中弹性畸变能会以表面能的形式释放,最终使薄膜以岛状形态生长. 在高过冷度条件下,衬底倾角和失配度较大时,衬底和外延层之间会形成由大量位错规则排列而成的小角度晶界从而显著改变外延层的生长位向.     

Initial stages of Ge epitaxy on Si(111) under quasi-equilibrium growth conditions

The results of the structural and morphological studies of Ge growth on a Si(111) surface at the initial stages of epitaxy by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy are presented. Epitaxy of Ge has been performed in the temperature range of 300 to 550°C under the quasi-equilibrium growth conditions and low deposition rates of 0.001–0.01 bilayers per minute. The stages of the formation and decay of the nanoclusters as a result of the redistribution of the Ge atoms into two-dimensional pseudomorphic Ge islands before the formation of the continuous wetting layer have been experimentally detected. The positions of the preferable nucleation of three-dimensional Ge islands on the wetting layer formed after the coalescence of the two-dimensional islands have been analyzed. The c2 × 8 → 7 × 7 → c2 × 8 phase transitions due to the lateral growth of the islands and the plastic relaxation of the misfit strains occur on the surface of the three-dimensional Ge islands when their strain state changes. The misfit dislocations gather at the interface and two types of steps lower than one bilayer are formed on the surface of the three-dimensional islands during the relaxation process.     

Enhanced strain relaxation induced by epitaxial layer growth mode of MgO thin films

Growth of MgO films on silicon substrate was conducted by KrF excimer pulsed-laser ablation system. Two kinds of growth mode were revealed in situ by reflection high energy electron diffraction. It was found that the layer growth mode of MgO thin films could remarkably reduce the misfit strain originated from the different lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficiency between MgO films and Si. An enhanced strain relaxation was discovered for MgO films, which were grown with the layer growth mode, in the film thickness range of 40-100 nm. The value of critical thickness for the formation of misfit dislocation agrees well with the calculated one. This exceptional phenomenon should be ascribed to the layer growth mode of epitaxial MgO films.     

The size dependence of equilibrium elastic strain in finite epitaxial islands

The equilibrium elastic strain in epitaxial islands of small size is shown to have a sawtooth dependence on island width by minimizing the systems energy as calculated from a periodic interaction potential between substrate and overgrowth. Such a sawtooth variation is consistent with Vincent's observations and idea that a given misfit between island and substrate may not be entirely accommodated by an integral number of identical misfit dislocations, and hence, the remaining misfit, which depends in part on island width, will be accommodated by residual elastic strain. The present calculations of mechanical equilibrium support these ideas and further reveal that in some cases misfit dislocations may over compensate for the misfit, thereby introducing an elastic strain of opposite sign to that normally expected. Other results of the calculations are in agreement with earlier theoretical and experimental observations.     

Phase transitions in epitaxial (-110) BiFeO3 films from first principles

The effect of misfit strain on properties of epitaxial BiFeO3 films that are grown along the pseudocubic [110] direction, rather than along the usual [001] direction, is predicted from density-functional theory. These films adopt the monoclinic Cc space group for compressive misfit strains smaller in magnitude than ?1.6% and for any investigated tensile strain. In this Cc phase, both polarization and the axis about which antiphase oxygen octahedra tilt rotate within the epitaxial plane as the strain varies. Surprisingly and unlike in (001) films, for compressive strain larger in magnitude than ?1.6%, the polarization vanishes and two orthorhombic phases of Pnma and P2(1)2(1)2(1) symmetry successively emerge via strain-induced transitions. The Pnma-to-P2(1)2(1)2(1) transition is a rare example of a so-called pure gyrotropic phase transition, and the P2(1)2(1)2(1) phase exhibits original interpenetrated arrays of ferroelectric vortices and antivortices.     

Magnetism of Fe clusters and islands on Pt surfaces

Clusters and islands of Fe atoms have been prepared by noble gas buffer layer assisted growth as well as by standard molecular beam epitaxy on Pt substrates. Xe buffer layers have been utilized to promote the formation of compact, relaxed Fe clusters with narrow size distribution. Without the Xe buffer, strained Fe islands with a characteristic misfit dislocation network are formed. Magnetization loops obtained by magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements reveal that in-plane easy magnetization axis is only found for the relaxed clusters, pointing out the important role of epitaxial lattice deformations for the magnetic anisotropy. PACS 61.46.+w; 68.37.Ef; 36.40.Cg; 75.75.+a     

GaAs/AlGaAs分子束外延材料的X射线双晶形貌观察

本文介绍了用非平行非对称(+、-)双晶X射线形貌术研究Ⅲ—Ⅴ族化合物外延晶体的设置和原理。分析了外延后形成的弯曲样品造成的衍射效应。对分子束外延(MBE)法生长的GaAs/AlGaAs衬底和外延层分别进行了X射线形貌术观察。讨论了外延层中存在的失配位错、生长小丘、沾污和局部微差取向等缺陷。对位错的组态和来源进行了初步分析。本实验结果也表明,有应变超晶格过渡层的MBE法对生长优质的GaAs/AlGaAs外延片是有利的。     

Effect of out-of-plane misfit strain on phase diagrams and ferroelectric properties of ferroelectric films in vertical nanocomposite structures

A phenomenological thermodynamic Landau–Devonshire theory is developed to investigate phase diagrams of epitaxial ferroelectric films with out-of-plane misfit strain induced by vertical nanocomposites. The thermodynamic potential of ferroelectric films is obtained based on the boundary conditions of three-dimensional clamping induced by the vertical nanocomposites. Our calculated results indicate that the out-of-plane misfit strain modulates the transition temperature and spontaneous polarization of ferroelectric films in a wide range even the substrate does not provide an effective in-plane misfit strain control. An enhanced critical transition temperature up to 803 °C in BaTiO₃ films under a tensile out-of-plane misfit strain is predicted, which is consistent with the experimental result very well. The polarization properties of BaTiO₃ films can also be effectively modulated by the out-of-plane misfit strain which is controlled by the volume fraction of nanopillars in the vertical nanocomposites. Our method provides a theoretical guide for the out-of-plane strain engineering of ferroelectric films.     

D(A) steps and 2D islands of double layer height in the SiGe(001) system

The surfaces of step graded, partially relaxed Si(1-x)Ge(x)/Si(001) buffers were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. The surface slips along <110> forming the crosshatch pattern, consisting of bunches of D(A) steps of double layer height. The D(A) steps are present in regions of large surface gradients close to the slips, as well as in planar regions between the slips. These regions are also characterized by the appearance of 2D islands of double layer height. The observations can be explained by assuming the strain due to the misfit dislocations to be locally anisotropic. Anisotropic misfit strain and efficient strain relaxation by the ( 2x8) Ge reconstruction were identified as the main factors causing the unusual step structure.     

Scaling of heteroepitaxial island sizes

Monte Carlo simulations of an atomistic solid-on-solid model are used to study the effect of lattice misfit on the distribution of two-dimensional islands sizes as a function of coverage θ in the submonolayer aggregation regime of epitaxial growth. Misfit promotes the detachment of atoms from the perimeter of large pseudomorphic islands and thus favors their dissolution into smaller islands that relieve strain more efficiently. The number density of islands composed of s atoms exhibits scaling in the form N_s(θ) ~ θ/〈s〉²g(s/〈s〉) where 〈s〉 is the average island size. Unlike the case of homoepitaxy, a rate equation theory based on this observation leads to qualitatively different behavior than observed in the simulations.     

异质外延生长中应变对圆形岛形貌稳定性的影响

本文利用BCF模型研究了应变对圆形岛形貌稳定性的影响. 通过Gibbs-Thomson关系将应变引入该模型中,讨论了在失配应变、外场应变以及沉积流量、线张力和远场流量等因素共同作用下圆形岛的稳定性,并得到了相应的扰动增长率以及临界沉积流量. 研究结果表明：较大的失配应变和远场流量都能促进岛在生长过程中失稳,而线张力可以抑制岛的失稳. 随着岛的生长,岛的半径越大越趋于稳定,当岛生长到临界半径后,临界沉积流量随着失配应变的增大而增大. 在外场应变存在的情况下,外场负应变对岛的生长起稳定作用并使临界沉积流量减小;相反,正应变促进岛的失稳,且使临界流量增大. 这些结论对在薄膜生长过程中控制原子岛的形貌及其稳定性提供了重要的理论依据. 关键词： 形貌稳定性 失配应变 外场应变 圆形岛     

Transition of 3D to 2D growth modes of InAs grown on GaAs

We report a method to grow thin strain-released InAs layer on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. We have shown that by controlling the growth parameters, a thin 2D InAs layer can be grown during initial stages, which eventually serves as a buffer layer to trap dislocations and epitaxial regrowth of InAs on this buffer results in high crystal quality. The size dependence of the InAs islands formed during initial stages with growth time has been studied by atomic force microscopy. With continuous short-time epitaxial growth during various stages, the InAs growth mode transfers from 3D to 2D. The introduction of dislocations into InAs epitaxial islands and their behavior during initial growth stage has been theoretically studied. The theoretical results are in remarkable agreement with the experimental results and shows that once the film is formed, the film strain is totally relaxed. The 200 nm thick InAs epilayer grown on this buffer shows a narrow X-ray diffraction peak. Such InAs strain-released buffer layer would be useful for regrowth of high In content based materials on top of it for electronics and optoelectronics device applications.     

Mechanisms of dislocation generation in Si structures with strained layers: Intrinsic point defects in dislocation nucleation

The peculiarities of dislocation production in silicon compositions with elastically strained layers fabricated by the molecular-beam epitaxy technique (SiGe/Si heterostructures) and by direct bonding of Si(110)/Si(100) wafers are studied with transmission electron microscopy. The role of intrinsic point defects during the process of nucleation of misfit dislocations is explained. The surplus concentration of these defects in heterostructures was produced via low-temperature epitaxial growth of buffer layers or with ion implantation of elastically strained heterostructures. The model of “optimal” and “inverse” intrinsic point defects providing an explanation for the relaxation of misfit strains in heterostructures is proposed.     

Evolution of epitaxial titanium silicide nanocrystals as a function of growth method and annealing treatments

Titanium silicide grows on silicon in a form of discontinuous layers, which is the most serious obstacle to the formation of high-quality epilayers for VLSI applications. At the same time, nanometric dimensions of the epitaxial silicide islands attract interest as quantum nanostructures. However, for this purpose, nanocrystals in a self-assembled array have to be defect-free, and exhibit high shape and size uniformity. In this work titanium silicide was grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates by reactive deposition epitaxy and by solid-phase epitaxy. Since the reaction and phase-formation kinetics depend on the growth method, accordingly different lattice matching and facet energies may result in different morphological shapes of the nanocrystals. Nanocrystals from reaction in a solid-state could be characterized as highly non-uniform in both shape and size, and their evolution due to post-deposition anneals increased that non-uniformity even further. Relaxation of epitaxial mismatch strain by misfit dislocations could be inferred from a gradual reduction of the nanocrystal vertical aspect ratio and development of flat top facets out of the initially sharp conical crests, in accord with generalized Wulf-Kaishew theorem. On the other hand, the silicide nanocrystals formed by reactive deposition exhibited high uniformity and thermal stability. Significant strain relaxation, as could be judged by the nanocrystal flattening, took place only at temperatures in excess of 650 °C, followed by progressive nanocrystal coalescence. It thus could be inferred, that better titanium silicide nanocrystal arrays (in the sense of uniformity and stability) are more easily obtained by reactive deposition epitaxy than by solid-phase epitaxy. While terminal, stable C54-TiSi₂ phase, did eventually form in the epilayers in both methods, different evolution pathways were manifested by different respective morphologies and orientations even in this final state.     

Initial stages in the formation of epitaxial films of II–VI compounds on a muscovite mica substrate under highly nonequilibrium conditions

A discussion is presented regarding the results obtained from investigations of the initial stages of the epitaxial growth of CdTe and CdS films on substrates cooled to negative temperatures Celsius. Electron diffraction patterns and photographs of the surface are shown, corresponding to the early stages of growth. The features that are revealed (island size 20–25 nm, a δ-function size distribution of the islands, and a monotonic orientation process of the islands) are explained in the framework of a phenomenological theory of heterophase fluctuations and nucleation with the use of a model of the motion of misfit dislocations. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 382–386 (February 1997)     

采用纳米晶柱阵列衬底抑制失配位错形成的分子动力学模拟研究

运用分子动力学方法对纳米晶柱阵列衬底上铝簿膜的外延生长进行了模拟研究.所采用的原子间相互作用势为嵌入原子法(EAM)多体势.模拟结果表明：采用纳米晶柱阵列衬底可以在不形成失配位错的条件下释放其上生长的外延薄膜晶体中的失配应变,有效地抑制其中失配位错的形成,获得高质量的外延薄膜晶体;这种纳米晶柱阵列的几何设计应满足两个基本条件：1) 晶柱的横截面尺寸应大于对应温度下的晶柱热失稳临界尺寸,以克服纳米结构的热失稳,模拟显示700K下铝的热失稳临界尺寸为19nm;2) 晶柱的高度与间距之比应大于076,以保证 关键词： 失配位错 分子动力学 纳米晶柱 铝     

On the reduction of nickel oxide

During the preparation of thin samples of nickel oxide by ion-beam milling, it has been found that preferential removal of oxygen can occur to such an extent that islands of nickel metal form on the surface. The nickel islands are found to be aligned topotacticly with the oxide and the results are compared with other studies of the early stages of the reduction of nickel oxide. The shape of the islands is explained in terms of misfit dislocations which can accommodate the strain; the growth of the islands occurs by generation and climb of the misfit dislocations.     

Strain relief of heteroepitaxial bcc-Fe(001) films

The strain relief of heteroepitaxial bcc-Fe(001) films, deposited at 520-570 K onto MgO(001), has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. In accordance with real-time stress measurements, the tensile misfit strain is relieved during coalescence of flat, mainly 2-3 monolayers (ML) high Fe islands at the high thickness of approximately 20 ML. To accommodate the misfit between merging strain-relaxed islands, a network of 1/2[111] screw dislocations is formed. A strong barrier for dislocation glide--which is typical for bcc metals--is most likely responsible for the big delay in strain relief of Fe/MgO(001), since only the elastic energy of the uppermost layer(s) is available for the formation of an energy-costly intermediate layer.