Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Islanding and surface diffusion for Ge on Si(111)7×7 and Si(100)2×1 surfaces were examined in a UHV apparatus with in situ scanning Auger/SEM capabilities. At room-temperature uniform growth is observed, while elevated temperatures lead to Stranski-Krastanov growth with complex island size distributions. Extensive surface diffusion is observed on Si(100)2×l; however, surface diffusion is demonstrated to be extremely sensitive to contamination with carbon on the order of ≈0.05 ML, as well as to e-beam irradiation.