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.     

Anomalous scaling in heteroepitaxial island dynamics on Ag(100)

Diffusion and decay of alloyed Cu/Ag islands are investigated in the size range from 1 to 40 nm2 on Ag(100) at room temperature with fast-scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory. While islands at sizes above 7 nm2 show the diffusion and decay behavior expected for dynamics based on single atom hopping, islands smaller than 4 nm2 diffuse faster and decay slower than predicted by standard theory. This anomalous behavior at unexpected large island sizes is related to a size dependent dealloying of the Cu/Ag islands.     

异质扩散过程中ES势垒的计算

利用分子动力学中的静态结构计算方法对Pd，Ag及Cu原子在面心立方铜的台阶表面扩散过程中的Ehrlich-Schwoebel(ES)势垒进行了模拟计算，研究了各种台阶表面情况下增原子扩散过程中的ES势垒；讨论了与衬底互溶的金属和与衬底不互溶的金属增原子扩散的ES势垒的异同，并将模拟结果与同质情况的研究结果进行了对比. 结果表明： 1)在同质和异质扩散过程中ES势垒随着台阶高度的变化关系是相似的，即随着台阶高度的增加，ES势垒逐渐增加；当台阶高度达到某一高度时ES势垒将趋于定值. 2)在跳跃机理下，与Cu互溶的金属(Pd)在Cu表面台阶上扩散的ES势垒最大，其次是Cu，最小的是与Cu不互溶的金属 (Ag)；而在交换机理下，与Cu不互溶的金属(Ag)在Cu表面台阶上扩散的ES势垒最大，其次是Cu，最小的是与Cu互溶的金属(Pd). 3)对大多数台阶的情况，交换机理支配着原子在台阶边缘的扩散行为；且表面台阶高度对交换扩散过程影响较大.     

Oscillations and island evolution in radiating diffusion flames

We show how an island (isola) evolves out of the usual S-curve of steady states of diffusion flames when radiation losses are accounted for and how it eventually disappears when radiation increases further. At small activation temperatures there are never any islands. We show that stable oscillations evolve first out of perturbations of steady states on the S-curve at large Damköhler numbers. Only if the activation temperature is large enough do they also appear on the islands. The region of the stable oscillations grows larger as activation temperature decreases.     

Fast dimer diffusion near the island: A computational study

Performing atomic scale simulations, we study the diffusion of small Co clusters on Cu(111) surface in the presence of Co islands. It is revealed that mesoscopic relaxations at the island-substrate interface play an important role during the diffusion events of the clusters. The diffusion barrier of small Co clusters near the islands increases with increasing cluster size. Especially, we find that dimer diffusion near the island with B step is as fast as monomer’s, which might be responsible for the formation of dendritic shaped islands at low temperature.     

Structure of heteroepitaxial GaAs on Si

The current interest in GaAs grown on nonpolar substrates such as Si has been stimulated by the potential technological advantages of this system. Although the two major obstacles impeding the progress of heteroepitaxial growth of GaAs on Si (100) substrates, the large lattice mismatch and the formation of antiphase boundaries, have recently been overcome, the understanding of the microstructural growth process is still not satisfactory. We are presenting new x-ray scattering results which indicate that thin GaAs films are compressed in the film plane at room temperature, while thicker films are under tensil stress, the cross-over region being at about 1000Å. In addition, we show that the GaAs lattice is translationally incommensurate with the Si substrate and that the in-plane [001] axes are misaligned by 3–5°. Thermal expansion measurements of the out-of-plane lattice parameters of the film and substrate indicate that the GaAs in-plane thermal expansion follows from the anharmonicity of the substrate.     

Strain-mediated phase coexistence in heteroepitaxial films

We present experimental evidence of the equilibrium coexistence between crystalline phases in heteroepitaxial films of MnAs on GaAs. The phases, which can coexist in the bulk system only at one temperature point, coexist in the epitaxial film over a wide temperature interval. An apparent contradiction with the Gibbs phase rule is resolved by the presence of strain in the film.     

Multicrystal X-ray diffraction of heteroepitaxial structures

An appraisal of high-resolution multi-crystal multi-reflection diffractometry (HRMCMRD) and topography is presented to illustrate its potential for structure analysis. Examples of methods for extracting lateral interface roughness, studying layered structures with imperfect epitaxy (including strained layer structures) are given to show the wealth of information available from X-ray techniques. The advantages of diffraction space mapping are discussed in addition to the use of topography to interpret the diffuse and Bragg scattering. The HRMCMRD has a dynamic range of 10⁶ and can record topographs with intensities less than 1 count/s.     

The growth mechanism of pentacene-fullerene heteroepitaxial films

The growth of pentacene on C₆₀ film has been studied in real-time by low energy electron microscope. The standing-up phase overgrows on the lying-down phase at room temperature with increasing film thickness. At intermediate temperature we observed two distinct types of nucleation: an earlier nucleation of lying-down phase and a delayed nucleation of standing-up phase on the bare C₆₀ surface between islands of lying-down phase. Further thermal activation control enabled us to tune the types of nucleation and the standing-up phase without co-presence of the lying-down phase could be achieved above ∼70 °C.     

Transmission electron microscopy of heteroepitaxial layer structures

The characterization of heterostructural layers by transmission electron microscopy using cleaved wedge specimens proves to be a fast analysis method. Examples are given for GaAlAs/GaAs and strained GaInAs/GaAs layer systems. It is demonstrated that the (200) dark-field contrast of GaInAs/GaAs layers reverses at an In concentration of x ≈ 0.47. Experimental high-resolution electron images of the edges of cleaved 90° wedges compare very well with computer-simulated images. Characteristic image features in GaAs and AlAs are explained by non-linear beam interactions and are shown to be sensitive to electron beam misalignment. These investigations are important to make a more precise assessment of interfaces possible.     

Dendritic islands in metal-on-metal epitaxy I. Shape transitions and diffusion at island edges

The development of dendritic island shape instabilities observed during metal-on-metal epitaxy is investigated via a lattice-gas model for the low coverage regime. The key assumption is that island structure is controlled by the competition between shape equilibration due to adatom edge diffusion, and Mullins-Sekerka-type shape instability due to diffusion-limited aggregation of adatoms with islands. From comparison with scanning tunneling microscopy data (for the island density and average width of dendritic arms), we advance estimates of the energy barrier for edge diffusion in several systems.     

Excitons in heteroepitaxial CdSe/CdS structures

X-ray diffractometry and low-temperature exciton spectroscopy are used to study heteroepitaxial CdSe/CdS layers grown at temperatures of 350–485 °C by MOCVD. The high-temperature samples are found to display the exciton and x-ray diffraction spectra characteristic of hexagonal Wurtzite (W) structures, while the low-temperature samples display the features characteristic of the cubic structure of sphalerite (ZB). A number of the samples have x-ray spectra characteristic of structures with stacking faults (SF), which represent a separate crystalline phase in the structures studied here. It is found that the individual crystalline phases are spatially separated. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 887–889 (May 1998)     

Narrow gap nano-dots growth by droplets heteroepitaxial mode

There is an increasing interest in Quantum Dot (QD) structures for a plethora of applications, including optoelectronic devices, quantum information processing and energy harvesting. Over the last few years, self assembled quantum dots have been observed in a wide variety of semiconductor systems. Several methods for self organized dots have been suggested, among them the most common is the Stranski–Krastanov (S–K) growth mode. The S–K growth mode needs a mismatch between the substrate and the dots material. Recently, an alternative approach of growing QD’s, has emerged known as the Droplet heteroepitaxial method. This method is potentially not limited to mismatched material systems and is very attractive for growth of binary and more complicated compounds based on low melting point elements. In this work we present a detailed study on the growth mechanisms of the InSb-based droplets quantum dots and show the large versatility of this droplets growth system in achieving different optical properties of the dots system.     

New source of stacking faults in heteroepitaxial systems

A new stacking fault formation mechanism has been observed for the first time in ZnO/LiTaO(3) heteroepitaxial films. High resolution electron microscopy studies combined with electron diffraction and numerical image computation suggest that the observed type I1 intrinsic stacking faults in an epitaxial film can be dominantly formed as a result of tilting of the lattices between films and substrate required to maintain a particular orientation relationship.     

Structural and photoluminescence properties of heteroepitaxial silicon-on-sapphire layers

The growth of erbium-doped silicon layers on sapphire substrates through sublimation molecular-beam epitaxy is studied for the first time. Structural analysis data are given, and the luminescence properties of layers are discussed. Heteroepitaxial silicon-on-sapphire layers grown at a temperature T _s=600–700°C are found to be fairly perfect in structure. Photoluminescence spectra show a peak at a wavelength of 1.54 μm associated with intracenter transitions in the rare earth Er³⁺ ion. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2004, pp. 15–17. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Svetlov, Chalkov, Shengurov, Drozdov, Krasil’nik, Krasil’nikova, Stepikhova, Pavlov, Pavlova, Shilyaev, Khokhlov. Deceased.     

Equilibrium shape and size of supported heteroepitaxial nanoislands

We study the equilibrium shape, shape transitions and optimal size of strained heteroepitaxial nanoislands with a two-dimensional atomistic model using simply adjustable interatomic pair potentials. We map out the global phase diagram as a function of substrate-adsorbate misfit and interaction. This phase diagram reveals all the phases corresponding to different well-known growth modes. In particular, for large enough misfits and attractive substrate there is a Stranski-Krastanow regime, where nano-sized islands grow on top of wetting films. We analyze the various terms contributing to the total island energy in detail, and show how the competition between them leads to the optimal shape and size of the islands. Finally, we also develop an analytic interpolation formula for the various contributions to the total energy of strained nanoislands.     

"Magic" heteroepitaxial growth on vicinal surfaces

The step period (Lambda) of vicinal surfaces can be used as a new parameter for the control of metallic heteroepitaxial growth. This is evidenced here in the case of Ag/Cu(211). The deposition of 1 monolayer (ML) exhibits a c(2 x 10) superstructure leading to the formation of [111] steps in the Ag adlayer in contrast with the original [100] steps for the Cu substrate. This wetting layer can be viewed as a (133) Ag plane and it will be the starting point for the epitaxial growth. The deposition of 4 ML shows that the thin Ag film results homogeneous and no twins or stacking faults are detected. Moreover, the film grows along the [133] axis which is the orientation that minimizes the misfit between Cu(211) and the Ag film. Thus, the use of a regular stepped substrate allows one to select the crystallographic orientation of the growth and seems to be a way to avoid the creation of stacking faults.