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Triangular Step Instability and 2D/3D Transition During the Growth of Strained Ge Films on Si(100)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

K. M. Chen ,
D. E. Jesson ,
S. J. Pennycook ,
M. Mostoller ,
T. Kaplan ,
T. Thundat  and
R. J. Warmack
K. M. Chen
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6031;
D. E. Jesson
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6031;
S. J. Pennycook
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6031;
M. Mostoller
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6031;
T. Kaplan
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6031;
T. Thundat
Affiliation:
Health Sciences Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
R. J. Warmack
Affiliation:
Health Sciences Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
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Abstract

We show that an activation energy barrier exists to the formation of wavy step edges due to stress-driven 2D instability. The barrier height and the barrier width depend sensitively on the surface stress anisotropy and step free energy. The large misfit strain of Ge films significantly reduces the barrier by lowering the SB step energy, inducing SA steps to undergo a triangular instability even during low temperature growth of Ge on Si(100). The step instability results in a novel arrangement of stress domains, and the interaction between the domains causes a spatial variation of surface strain with a surprisingly large influence on the energy barrier for island nucleation. Calculations indicate a dramatic enhancement in the nucleation of 3D islands at the apex regions of triangular steps, in good agreement with our experimental measurements.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 379: Symposium C – Strained Layer Epitaxy–Materials, Processing, and Devise Applications , 1995 , 33
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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