Surface morphology of a Si(310) substrate used for molecular beam epitaxy of CdHgTe: II. Si(310) surface annealed in As4 vapors

The morphology of a hydrogenated Si(310) surface annealed in As₄ vapors is studied by fast electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. It is established that, at annealing temperatures above 700°C, the surface morphology is changed; namely, (311) facets and steps with heights equal to several interplanar distances are formed. At temperatures below 600°C, there is no surface faceting and the height of steps is equal to two interplanar distances. This makes this surface suitable for growing A²B⁶-based heterostructures.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi<Subscript>2</Subscript>(111) films grown at a high temperature

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to study the basic laws of growth of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi₂(111) films with Co coverages up to 4 ML formed upon sequential deposition of Co and Si atoms taken in a stoichiometric ratio onto the Co–Si(111) surface at room temperature and subsequent annealing at 600–700°C. When the coverage of Co atoms is lower than ~2.7 ML, flat CoSi₂ islands up to ~3 nm high with surface structure 2 × 2 or 1 × 1 grow. It is shown that continuous epitaxial CoSi₂ films containing 3–4 triple Si–Co–Si layers grow provided precise control of deposition. CoSi₂ films can contain inclusions of the local regions with (2 × 1)Si reconstruction. At a temperature above 700°C, a multilevel CoSi₂ film with pinholes grows because of vertical growth caused by the difference between the free energies of the CoSi₂(111) and Si(111) surfaces. According to theoretical calculations, structures of A or B type with a coordination number of 8 of Co atoms are most favorable for the CoSi₂(111)2 × 2 interface.     

On the stability of thin epitaxial NiSi2 layers on Si (111)

By repeated deposition of several Å of Ni below 100 °C and subsequent annealing to typically 350 °C, thin continuous NiSi₂-layers have been grown epitaxially on Si (111). Thicknesses exceeding ∼- 70 Å require a different procedure due to the increasing importance of lateral growth, spoiling the layer quality. We show that MBE at substrate temperatures above 500 °C is not a viable technique to increase the thickness of the ultrathin layers. The reason is found to lie in the insufficient stability of the NiSi₂ templates, disintegrating into islands at temperatures above 500 °C. Perfectly smooth layers up to 1000 Å have, however, been grown by a new method in which alternate layers of Ni and Si (typically 1 Å and 4 Å respectively) are deposited onto the initial template at substrate temperatures between 350 °C and 380 °C.     

Growth of size-tunable periodic Ni silicide nanodot arrays on silicon substrates

The fabrications of size-tunable periodic arrays of nickel metal and silicide nanodots on (0 0 1)Si substrates using polystyrene (PS) nanosphere lithography (NSL) and heat treatments have been investigated. The growth of epitaxial NiSi₂ was found to be more favorable for the Ni metal nanodot arrays. The effect becomes more pronounced with a decrease in the size of the Ni nanodots. The sizes of the epitaxial NiSi₂ nanodots were tuned from 38 to 110 nm by varying the diameter of the PS spheres and heat treatment conditions. These epitaxial NiSi₂ nanodots formed on (0 0 1)Si were found to be heavily faceted and the faceted structures were more prone to form at higher temperatures. Based on TEM, HRTEM and SAED analysis, the faceted NiSi₂ nanodots were identified to be inverse pyramids in shape. Compared with the NiSi₂ nanodot arrays formed using single-layer PS sphere masks, the epitaxial NiSi₂ nanodot arrays formed from the double-layer PS sphere templates exhibit larger interparticle spacings and smaller particle sizes. Since the nanoparticle sizes, shapes and interparticle spacings can be adjusted by tuning the diameter of the PS spheres, stacking conditions, and heat treatment conditions, the PS NSL technique promises to be an effective patterning method for growth of other nanostructures.     

Phase transitions on clean and nickel containing vicinal Si(111) surfaces

Structure and reversible structural phase transitions on clean vicinal Si surfaces inclined from the (111) plane towards [2 ] and [ 11] poles and the effect of nickel on the structure and the structural transitions on these surfaces have been studied by LEED. The structures of clean surfaces inclined towards [2 ] and [ 11] are different. Phase transitions take place at about 870°C and 800° C, respectively. Above the transition temperatures these two surfaces consist of regular steps with heights equal to one interplanar distance d₁₁₁ (3.135 Å). The terrace width between steps is determined by the angle of inclination to the (111) plane. Below the transition temperatures the surfaces inclined to [2 ] contain steps with height 3d₁₁₁, those inclined towards the [ 11] pole consist of combinations of (111) facets and some other, apparently (133). The effect of nickel leads to the formation of regular steps with height 2d₁₁₁ on the surfaces inclined towards [2 ] and with height 2d₁₁₁ or 1d₁₁₁, depending on the nickel concentration, on the inclined towards [ 11]. On nickel-containing surfaces there also take place reversible structural transitions with varying temperature.     

Leed studies of vicinal surfaces of silicon

Clean silicon surfaces inclined at small angles to (111), (100) and (110) planes were investigated by LEED. Surfaces oriented at low angles to the (111) plane contain steps with edges towards [2&#x0304;11] or [21&#x0304;1&#x0304;]. Steps with edges towards [2&#x0304;11] have a height of two interplanar distances d₁₁₁ at low temperatures. At 800°C the reversible reconstruction of this step array into the steps of monolayer height takes place. Steps with edges towards [21&#x0304;1&#x0304;] can be seen at low temperatures only. They are of monolayer height and disappear at annealing in vacuum. Surfaces oriented at low angles to the (100) plane contain steps with (100) terraces and have a height of about two interplanar distances d₁₀₀. Surfaces at low angles to (110) planes are facetted and contain facets of the (47 35 7) type. The information about surface self-diffusion of silicon may be obtained using the kinetic data of structural reconstructions on surfaces close to (111) at different temperatures.     

Reactive epitaxy of cobalt disilicide on Si(100)

The growth of cobalt disilicide on the Si(100) surface by reactive epitaxy at T=350°C was studied within the 10–40 ML cobalt coverage range. A new method of mapping the atomic structure of the surface layer by inelastically scattered medium-energy electrons was employed. The films thus formed were shown to consist of CoSi₂(221) grains of four azimuthal orientations turned by 90° with respect to one another. This domain structure originates from substrate surface faceting by (111) planes, a process occurring during silicide formation. B-oriented CoSi₂(111) layers grow epitaxially on (111) facets.     

LEED studies of vicinal surfaces of germanium

Clean germanium surfaces inclined at small angles to (111), (100) and (110) planes were investigated by LEED. Surfaces with orientations close to (111) and (100) are stepped and regular steps are retained in the whole temperature range investigated.Steps with (111) terraces and edges towards $\text{[2}\text{1}\text{1}\text{]}$ have a height of about one interplanar distance d₁₁₁ at all temperatures, and steps with edges towards $\text{[}\text{2}\text{11]}$ have a height of about two interplanar distances below 500°C and of about one interplanar distance above 500°C. Steps with (100) terraces and edges in the [011] direction have a height about two interplanar distances d₁₀₀. The surfaces with orientations close to (110) are facetted at room temperature. The (17 15 1) facets are present on the surfaces oriented in the $\text{[}\text{1}\text{10]}$ zone and the (10 9 2) facets on the surfaces oriented in the [001] zone. At high temperatures (about 480 and 770°C respectively) a reversible structural reconstruction of these surfaces into stepped ones takes place.     

Reactive epitaxy of cobalt disilicide on Si(111)

A study of the mechanism governing the initial stages in silicide formation under deposition of 1–10 monolayers of cobalt on a heated Si(111) 7×7 crystal is reported. The structural data were obtained by an original method of diffraction of inelastically scattered medium-energy electrons, which maps the atomic structure of surface layers in real space. The elemental composition of the near-surface region to be analyzed was investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy. Reactive epitaxy is shown to stimulate epitaxial growth of a B-oriented CoSi₂(111) film on Si(111). In the initial stages of cobalt deposition (1–3 monolayers), the growth proceeds through island formation. The near-surface layer of a CoSi₂(111) film about 30 Å thick does not differ in elemental composition from the bulk cobalt disilicide, and the film terminates in a Si-Co-Si monolayer triad.     

Synthesis of ZnAl<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>/α-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> complex substrates and growth of GaN films

With the solid phase reaction between pulsed-laser-deposited (PLD) ZnO film and α-Al₂O₃ substrate, ZnAl₂O₄/α-Al₂O₃ complex substrates were synthesized. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra show that as the reaction proceeds, ZnAl₂O₄ changes from the initial (111)-oriented single crystal to poly-crystal, and then to inadequate (111) orientation. Corresponding scanning electron microscope (SEM) images indicate that the surface morphology of ZnAl₂O₄ transforms from uniform islands to stick structures, and then to bulgy-line structures. In addition, XRD spectra present that ZnAl₂O₄ prepared at low temperature is unstable at the environment of higher temperature. On the as-obtained ZnAl₂O₄/α-Al₂O₃ substrates, GaN films were grown without any nitride buffer using light-radiation heating low-pressure MOCVD (LRH-LP-MOCVD). XRD spectra indicate that GaN film on this kind of complex substrate changes fromc-axis single crystal to poly-crystal as ZnAl₂O₄ layer is thickened. For the single crystal GaN, its full width at half maximum (FWHM) of X-ray rocking curve is 0.4°. Results indicate that islands on thin ZnAl₂O₄ layer can promote nucleation at initial stage of GaN growth, which leads to the (0001)-oriented GaN film.     

Si{111}晶面粒子堵塞坑的新现象

本文报道了从粒子背散射堵塞效应的实验中所发现的单晶Si的{111}晶面粒子堵塞坑的新现象。单晶Si的{111}晶面有两个面间距d_{(111)^(a)和d(111)^(b),而{110}晶面只有一个面间距d(110)。由此导致两者的堵塞坑是不同的,我们已从α粒子和质子的Si单晶堵塞效应的实验得到了证实。并由此估计了d(111)^(a)和d(111)^(b)以及d(110)的2ψ1/2角。据作者了解,到目前为止,国内外还没有人发现此现象。此现象的发现对复杂晶体的堵塞和沟道效应的研究开阔了前景。 关键词：}     

Pattern formation in the reaction with anisotropic lateral adsorbate-adsorbate interactions

We present Monte Carlo simulations of the formation of (1×2) islands in the case of the 2 A + B ₂ → 2 AB reaction occurring via the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism on a square lattice under steady-state conditions. The model employed takes into account the effect of anisotropic lateral B-B interactions on the rates of B diffusion and elementary reaction events. The results obtained with qualitatively realistic ratio of the rate of elementary reaction steps indicate that the average island size depends on the details of diffusion and reaction dynamics in a similar way as in the earlier studied case of the simplest A + B reaction running via the Eley-Rideal mechanism. Received 4 January 2002 and Received in final form 2 April 2002 Published online 25 June 2002     

High resolution studies of NiSi2 ultrathin film formation by ion scattering and cross-section tem

Ultrathin epitaxial NiSi₂ films (0–40 Å) have been grown on Si(111) surfaces. Medium energy ion shadowing and blocking has been used to determine the orientation, morphology and interfacial order of these films. For the whole coverage range studied ((0–1) × 10¹⁶ Ni $\text{atoms}\text{cm}{}^2$) the films are found to be rotated 180° about the surface normal with respect to the Si(111) substrate. Using the high depth resolution of the technique the annealed films are shown to consist initially of islands, which coalesce into continuous films for coverages above ≈ 5 × 10¹⁵ Ni $\text{atoms}\text{cm}{}^2$. High resolution cross-section transmission electron microscopy shows the NiSi₂Si interface to be atomically abrupt. This interface has been probed directly using the ion channeling technique, and the number of disordered Ni atoms at the interface is found to be less than 7.5 × 10¹³$\text{atoms}\text{cm}{}^2$.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy study of the growth and self-organization of Ge nanostructures on vicinal Si(111) surfaces

The initial stages of Ge growth on Si(111) vicinal surfaces tilted in the [ $\overline 1 \overline 1 2$ ] and [ $11\overline 2 $ ] directions were studied in situ in the temperature range 350–500°C using scanning tunneling microscopy. It was shown that, at low Ge deposition rates of 10^?2 to 10^?3 BL/min, ordered Ge nanowires can form on surfaces tilted in the [ $\overline 1 \overline 1 2$ ] direction under conditions of step-layered growth. The height of a nanosized Ge wire is one or three interplanar distances and is determined by the initial height of a silicon step. It was established that, during epitaxial growth, steps with a [ $11\overline 2 $ ] front are replaced by steps with a [ $\overline 1 \overline 1 2$ ] front. As a result, the step edge is serrated and the formation of smooth nanosized Ge wires uniform in width is hampered on the serrated Si(111) surfaces tilted in the [ $11\overline 2 $ ] direction.     

Formation of high-conductivity NiSi2 layers on Si at zero-mismatch temperature by high-current Ni-ion implantation

2 and Si lattices at 380 °C, which was defined as zero-mismatch temperature. The implantation was conducted with a metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) ion implanter at an extraction voltage of 45 kV. Based on a thermal conduction estimation, a temperature rise of 380 °C required the Ni-ion current density to be 35 μA/cm². For the Si(111) wafers, the high conducting NiSi₂ layers were indeed directly formed after Ni-ion implantation with this specific current density to a normal dose of 2×10¹⁷ ions/cm² and the resistivity was as low as 9 μΩ cm. For the Si(111) wafers pre-covered with a 10-nm Ni overlayer, the resistivity of the NiSi₂ layers obtained under the same conditions decreased down to about 6 μΩ cm. The superior electrical property of the NiSi₂ was thought to be related to its formation temperature, i.e. at a zero-mismatch temperature of 380 °C, which resulted in minimizing the stress and stress-induced defects involved in its formation as well as cooling process. Received: 27 April 1998 / Accepted: 26 October 1998     

Si3N4/Si表面Si生长过程的扫描隧道显微镜研究

利用原位扫描隧道显微镜和低能电子衍射分析了Si的纳米颗粒在Si₃N₄/Si(111)和Si₃N₄/Si(100)表面生长过程的结构演变.在生长早期T为350—1075K范围内,Si在两种衬底表面上都形成高密度的三维纳米团簇,这些团簇的大小均在几个纳米范围内,并且在高温退火时保持相当稳定的形状而不相互融合.当生长继续时,Si的晶体小面开始显现.在晶态的Si₃N₄(0001)/S 关键词： 氮化硅 扫描隧道显微镜 纳米颗粒     

On generating initial conditions for turbulence models: the case of Rayleigh–Taylor instability turbulent mixing

A new approach to generate initial conditions for RANS simulations of Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) turbulence is presented. The strategy is to provide profiles of turbulent model variables when it is suitable for the turbulence model to be started, and then use these profiles for the turbulence model initialization. The generation of turbulence model variable profiles is achieved with a two-step process. In the first step, a nonlinear modal model assuming small amplitude initial perturbations, incompressible and inviscid fluids is used to track the growth of modes that exist in a given initial perturbation spectrum, and also modes generated by mode interactions. The amplitude development of each mode represents the penetration distance of the light fluid into the heavy fluid (bubble penetration), for a given mode perturbation. The penetration distance of heavy fluid into the light fluid (spike penetration), for a given mode perturbation, is inferred from the bubble's height by an empirical relation valid for small initial amplitudes, and established by DNS simulations that depend on a nondimensional time, and the density contrast (Atwood number). It is hypothesized that the bubble front position of the RT mixing layer can be approximated by the largest penetration distance among all existing modes. The spike front position is approximated in the same fashion. The nonlinear model is evaluated by comparing the bubble front height evolution predicted by the model against the bubble front height predicted by an incompressible implicit large eddy simulations (ILES) code. Comparisons of results for “top-hat” and two-band initial perturbation spectra at Atwood numbers, A_T =0.3 and A_T =0.5 for the former, and A_T =0.01 and A_T =0.5 for the latter, show reasonable agreement. In the second step, the bubble and spike front positions, their derived velocities, and simplified profiles of the mixture fraction distribution of each fluid between the bubble and spike fronts are used with a two-fluid approximation to derive profiles for the turbulence model variables. When initialized with modal model profiles at start time τ₀, (i.e., the time when the turbulence model variable profiles are inferred from the modal model results), the RANS simulations provide at all times τ>τ₀ profiles that show good agreement with ILES simulations. The procedure for determining the time at which the RANS model should be started is a representative use, other parameters can be used depending on the application. In this paper, for the purpose of demonstration of the full strategy, τ₀ is taken as the time at which the mixing layer growth rate parameter α has reached its asymptotic value in the corresponding ILES simulation.     

Ab initio computer simulation of adsorption of a Fe monolayer on Si(111)

Computer simulation of adsorption of an Fe monolayer on Si(111) is carried out in the generalized gradient approximation in the density functional theory. It is shown that mixing of Fe and Si atoms followed by the replacement of Si atoms and the formation of a silicide-like film containing two types of domains (with the A8 and B8 structure) takes place in the course of deposition. Analysis of the atomic structure of this compound shows that the formation of this interface makes it possible to obtain an FeSi film (with the CsCl-type structure) as well as FeSi₂ film (with a CaF₂-type structure).     

Influence of the Substrate Orientation on the Silicon Capture into A- and B- Sublattices of Gallium Arsenide in Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The influence of crystallographic orientation of the growth surface near (100) and (111)A GaAs singular faces on the silicon capture into A- and B-sublattices of gallium arsenide in molecular beam epitaxy is investigated by the electrophysical and photoluminescence methods. It is demonstrated that the silicon dopand is incorporated into GaAs layers not only as simple Si_Ga donors but also as elemental Si_Ga acceptors and more complex defects, namely, Si_As–V_As complexes. The concentration of defects of different types in layers depends on the orientation of the growth surface, and the amphoteric properties of silicon on the (111)A face are manifested stronger than those on the (100) face.     

Effect of dislocations on the shape of islands during silicon growth on the oxidized Si(111) surface

The formation of dislocation-rich and dislocation-free silicon islands during growth in the absence of mechanical stresses has been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. The rounded shape of islands obtained at growth temperatures of 400–500°C on the oxidized Si(111) surface is associated with the presence of dislocations within them. The transfer of atoms from the oxidized surface to the islands occurs due to the barrier of the potential energy at the SiO₂/Si boundary. The {111} and {311} facets dominate in the shape of the islands grown at 500–550°C. Their appearance indicates the absence of the threading dislocations in the islands and that the growth is limited by the stage of the nucleation of a new atomic layer.