Morphological anisotropy during migration enhanced epitaxy of GaAs(0 0 1)

The GaAs(0 0 1) surface morphology and structure during growth by migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) has been studied by reflection high energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. Changes induced by varying the incident As/Ga flux ratio, growth temperature and the total amount of material deposited in each cycle have been studied and the results compared with GaAs(0 0 1) growth by conventional molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Comparison of the surface morphology at the end of the Ga and As cycles indicates no clear evidence for any enhancement in the Ga adatom diffusion length during the Ga cycle. However, the morphological anisotropy of the growth front does change significantly and it is proposed that this changing anisotropy during MEE enables Ga adatom diffusion along both azimuths. The surface anisotropy during MEE growth is found to increase with the Ga/As ratio. Although there is a clear correlation between composition and morphology, we have also found that highly ordered and flat surfaces are not necessarily an indication of stoichiometric material. We also attempt to clarify a recent controversy on the structure of the c(4 × 4) reconstruction by studying the surface structure at the end of the As cycle as a function of the As/Ga ratio.     

STM/nc-AFM investigation of (n×6) reconstructed GaAs(0 0 1) surface

We have investigated the n×6 reconstructed GaAs(0 0 1) surface with scanning tunneling and non-contact atomic force microscopy techniques (STM/nc-AFM). For the first time atomically resolved nc-AFM images of that surface are shown. The images confirm the presence of rows of arsenic dimers in the topmost layer as predicted by the current model of n×6 reconstructed surface. However, in contrast to previous reports we found that postulated As dimer sites are not fully occupied. Moreover, the images suggest that ×6 symmetry is present on the surface even in absence of the dimers. We show that due to probing of different surface properties nc-AFM and STM are complementary tools for complex surfaces investigation.     

Surface deformation phenomena induced by electron-beam irradiation in strained InGaAs/AlGaAs layers on GaAs (1 0 0) and (3 1 1)B substrates

The strained InGaAs/AlGaAs layer structures have been grown on GaAs ( 10 0) and (3 1 1)B substrates in a horizontal low-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy system at a temperature of 800°C. In the surface observation using a high-resolution scanning electron microscope, we have found that surface deformation phenomena induced by electron-beam irradiation in strained In_0.36Ga_0.64As,/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As layers on GaAs (1 0 0) and (3 1 1)B substrates. The change of the surface morphology was observed in real time on the display of SEM with the accelerating voltage of 30 kV and the irradiated time of 60–120 s. The surface deformation through mass transport seems to be the cause of the residual strain relaxation due to electron-beam irradiation.     

Large scale atomic ordering on uncovered GaAs(0 0 1) after InAs monolayer capping: Atomic structure of the (12 × 6) reconstruction

A well ordered c(8 × 2)-InAs monolayer is grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on a GaAs(0 0 1) substrate. After slow sublimation of this monolayer up to 560 °C, a homogeneously (n × 6) reconstructed GaAs surface is obtained. This surface is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in UHV. This shows that it is well-ordered on a large scale with 200 nm long As dimer rows along and is also locally (12 × 6) reconstructed, the cell structure is proposed. We believe that this surface organization results from the specific As/Ga (0.7) surface atomic ratio obtained after the InAs monolayer growth and sublimation cycle.     

Magnetic pole pinning at rectangular defects on MnAs/GaAs(0 0 1)

Strong magnetic poles at characteristic rectangular defects have been observed using a magnetic force microscope on a MnAs(  1 0 0) thin film with the thickness of 30 nm. The MnAs thin film was epitaxially grown on a GaAs(0 0 1) substrate. The magnetic poles were in one-arranging direction, being independent of the magnetization direction of the film. The poles were pinned at the edges of the rectangular defects until just below the Curie temperature, and formed a stable magnetic-field loop on the MnAs surface. The stability of the magnetic pole pinning shows the distinctive feature of the magnetic domain structure on the surface with a strong anisotropy, which was built in the heterostructure of MnAs and GaAs.     

Growth of metallic nanowires on anisotropic Si substrates: Pb on vicinal Si(0 0 1), Si(7 5 5), Si(5 3 3), and Si(1 1 0)

The spontaneous formation of mesoscopic Pb-wires, on 4° off-cut Si(0 0 1) vicinal surface, Si(7 5 5), Si(5 3 3), and Si(1 1 0) substrates was studied by low-energy electron microscopy. Before the deposition of Pb the substrates were modified by predeposition of a submonolayer amount of Au followed by annealing. The Au-induced reconstruction creates quasi-one-dimensional facets and superstructures. Their width ranged from several hundred nm in the case of the vicinal Si(0 0 1) down to atomic scale size, for the Si(1 1 0) surface. The best-developed arrays of parallel aligned mesoscopic wires were obtained during the deposition of Pb on substrates cooled slightly below room temperature. Wires with length to width ratio reaching 130 were produced on the Si(7 5 5) and the Si(5 3 3) substrates. The width of these nanowires was uniform over the whole substrate and was about 60 nm. The driving forces for the formation of the mesoscopic wires are the anisotropic strain due to the large misfit between the Pb and the Si lattice and one-dimensional diffusion of Pb.     

Boron and indium substitution in GaAs(0 0 1) surfaces: Density-functional supercell calculations of the surface stability

Using the density-functional method and surface supercells the surface formation energies are calculated for the most stable GaAs(0 0 1) surface reconstructions without and with up to four indium or/and boron substitutions. Optimal conditions for the growth of the alloys are derived from calculated surface stability diagrams. The incorporation of indium into GaAs without phase separation is possible under strong As-rich conditions and medium to In-rich conditions. Less As-rich conditions can lead to the formation of an InAs phase. Ga-rich conditions give an InGa phase. Isovalent boron incorporation into GaAs without phase separation is possible under strong arsenic and reduced boron exposure. A BAs phase can be formed under more B-rich conditions. More Ga-rich conditions lead to the boron substitution in arsenic positions. The formed boron dimers can be a starting point for the formation of a boron phase. A true antisite boron substitution is less probable. Using the suitable growth conditions obtained for the ternary alloys it is energetically more favourable to incorporate both indium and boron (formation of BInGaAs) than to incorporate only one of the two elements (In or B). The antisite boron incorporation is not favoured in combination with isovalent boron or indium.     

Nanoscale observations of the epitaxial growth of hashemite on barite (0 0 1)

The heteroepitaxial growth of hashemite BaCrO₄ on barite BaSO₄(0 0 1) from supersaturated aqueous solutions was observed in situ using an atomic force microscope (AFM). It was shown that the first hashemite layer grows via two-dimensional nucleation easily forming a complete epitaxial layer, which is likely to have a low level of intrinsic stress. Two-dimensional nucleation of the second and subsequent layers proceeds with significantly lower rates, and growth occurs with lower step velocities. These layers seem to have significant level of intrinsic stress and tend to reduce it via the formation of free surface normal to the growth layer (holes in the layer, dendrite-like shape of nuclei and steps, preferable formation of nuclei at the step edges). As a result, the initially flat surface becomes rough. The process described corresponds to the Stranski-Krastanov epitaxial growth mode, which is well known for growth of semiconductor and metal films but not previously recognised for crystals grown from aqueous solutions.     

Molecular-beam epitaxy on shallow mesa gratings patterned on GaAs(3 1 1)A and (1 0 0) substrates

We report on the morphology and properties of the surface formed by molecular-beam epitaxy on shallow mesa gratings on patterned GaAs(3 1 1)A and GaAs(1 0 0). On GaAs(3 1 1)A substrates, the corrugated surface formed after GaAs growth on shallow mesa gratings along is composed of monolayer high steps and (3 1 1)A terraces. These pattern induced steps which are different on opposite slopes play an important role in InAs growth on this novel template leading to distinct lateral modulation of the island distribution. On GaAs(1 0 0) substrates, growth on shallow mesa gratings along [0 1 1], [0 1 0] and is drastically sensitive to the pattern direction due to the difference of steps along [0 1 1] and .     

Hydrogen adsorption on GaAs(0 0 1)-c(4 × 4)

Exposure of the As-terminated GaAs(0 0 1)-c(4 × 4) reconstructed surface to atomic hydrogen (H) at different substrate temperatures (50-480 °C) has been studied by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Hydrogen exposure at low temperatures (∼50 °C) produces a disordered (1 × 1) surface covered with AsH_x clusters. At higher temperatures (150-400 °C) exposure to hydrogen leads to the formation of mixed c(2 × 2) and c(4 × 2) surface domains with H adsorbed on surface Ga atoms that are exposed due to the H induced loss of As from the surface. At the highest temperature (480 °C) a disordered (2 × 4) reconstruction is formed due to thermal desorption of As from the surface. The results are consistent with the loss of As from the surface, either through direct thermal desorption or as a result of the desorption of volatile compounds which form after reaction with H.