ALLOYING OF THIN Ag AND Au FILMS ON Pd(111) STUDIED BY HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY OF SURFACE STATES

1996 ◽  
Vol 03 (05n06) ◽  
pp. 1783-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. FISCHER ◽  
TH. FAUSTER

Alloy formation by annealing of thin Ag and Au films on Pd(111) is studied by high-resolution ultraviolet and two-photon photoelectron spectroscopy of surface states. Changes in the composition of the top layer of the surface alloys are reflected in the energy of the surface states. Above an annealing temperature of 500 K on both systems, the crystal-induced surface state shifts continuously from the occupied state of the adsorbate to the unoccupied state of the substrate. The continuous shift reflects the variable composition of the alloys in the surface region which depends on the initial coverage and the annealing temperature. The spectroscopy of the unoccupied image states permits the investigation of growth and morphology of deposited metal layers. Three-dimensional island growth, layer-by-layer growth, and surface alloy formation with metastable surface configurations and diffusion of the overlayer material into the bulk are identified.

1993 ◽  
Vol 312 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kawai ◽  
H. Yonezu ◽  
Y. Ogasawara ◽  
D. Saito ◽  
K. Pak

AbstractThe segregation and interdiffusion of In atoms in the GaAs/InAs/GaAs heterostructures were investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. When the 1 ML thick InAs layer was grown in a layer-by-layer growth mode with no dislocations, the segregation of In atoms became marked with the increase of the growth temperature. However, the segregation was observed even at relatively low growth temperature of 400°C in molecular beam epitaxy. It was found that the segregation was markedly enhanced by dislocations near the heterointerface when the thick InAs layers were grown in a three-dimensional island growth mode. The interdiffusion of In atoms toward the growth direction occurred after thermal annealing, which could be assisted by vacancies propagating from the film surface into epilayer. It became apparent that the interdiffusion was effectively suppressed by a thin AlAs layer inserted in the GaAs cap layer.


1998 ◽  
Vol 05 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 783-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Dabiran ◽  
S. M. Seutter ◽  
P. I. Cohen

We have used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in ultrahigh vacuum and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in air to investigate the microscopic mechanisms of Sn surface segregation during the molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaAs and AlAs(100). Submonolayer amounts of Sn segregate to the surface during growth and strongly modify the growth kinetics. This is indicated by both extra-ordinary reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) measurements, and the STM and AFM images of rapidly quenched growth fronts. At the high surface coverages of 0.1–0.6 monolayers of Sn, studied in this work, neither step bunching nor three-dimensional (3D) growth of GaAs(100), was observed. Instead, STM and RHEED measurements indicated a significantly enhanced layer-by-layer growth of GaAs with increasing surface coverage of Sn. STM snapshots of the initial stages of GaAs growth revealed 2D islands which contained a higher-than-equilibrium bulk concentration of Sn, in Ga-substitutional sites, of up to 50%. Other directly observed Sn effects which are presented in this work include the removal of GaAs(100) island growth anisotropy and the formation of 2D islands with a relatively narrow distribution of size and separation. The completion of the top layers is shown to proceed by the coalescence of these islands before any significant nucleation of the next layer islands. This effect is used to explain the Sn enhancement of the layer-by-layer growth which was indicated in our RHEED and scanning probe observations. A model is presented for Sn segregation which explains these results based on an island-size-dependent, strain-driven, oscillatory Sn occupation of Ga-substitutional sites and surface interstitial sites on top GaAs(100) layers during growth. This model, which introduces a strain-limiting mechanism for the size and shape of the 2D islands, can also explain the observed enhancement of postgrowth surface recovery, as well as a delayed onset in increasing adatom surface diffusion length with increasing Sn coverage. The main conclusion is that, if impurity incorporation results in significant strain, then in addition to step climbing by surface impurities, the exchange of incorporated impurities with native species in top layers can be an important path for impurity segregation during expitaxial growth.


1988 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Rudder ◽  
S.V. Hattangady ◽  
D.J. Vitkavage ◽  
R.J. Markunas

Heteroepitaxial growth of Ge on Si(100) has been accomplished using remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at 300*#x00B0;C. Reconstructed surfaces with diffraction patterns showing non-uniform intensity variations along the lengths of the integral order streaks are observed during the first 100 Å of deposit. This observation of an atomically rough surface during the initial stages of growth is an indication of three-dimensional growth. As the epitaxial growth proceeds, the diffraction patterns become uniform with extensive streaking on both the integral and fractional order streaks. Subsequent growth, therefore, takes place in a layer-by-layer, two-dimensional mode. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the early nucleation stages, less than 80 Å, show that there is uniform coverage with no evidence of island formation.


Author(s):  
Jie Chen ◽  
Jun Wang

Hexagon-shaped Zn oxide nano-pole films with terraces and steps have been successfully fabricated by means of a combined approach involving sol-gel process, high-temperature heat treatment, and the hydrothermal method. The surface chemistry and morphological features of the films were characterized by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microcopy. All the diffraction peaks in x-ray diffraction pattern match with those of the hexagonal wurtzite phase of Zn oxide. Transmittance measurements show that the optical transmittance of the sample synthesized at 520°C on quartz glass substrate is the highest, reaching about 65% in the visible-light region. Based on the detailed structural characterization and the nucleation-growth kinetics, we find that the whole crystallization process of wurtzite Zn oxide nano-poles includes nanocatalysis and layer-by-layer growth mechanism. The present study provides an important understanding of the growth mechanism for nano-pole synthesis of Zn oxide and related materials.


Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Alberto Perrotta ◽  
Julian Pilz ◽  
Roland Resel ◽  
Oliver Werzer ◽  
Anna Maria Coclite

Direct plasma enhanced-atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) is adopted for the growth of ZnO on c-Si with native oxide at room temperature. The initial stages of growth both in terms of thickness evolution and crystallization onset are followed ex-situ by a combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray based techniques (diffraction, reflectivity, and fluorescence). Differently from the growth mode usually reported for thermal ALD ZnO (i.e., substrate-inhibited island growth), the effect of plasma surface activation resulted in a substrate-enhanced island growth. A transient region of accelerated island formation was found within the first 2 nm of deposition, resulting in the growth of amorphous ZnO as witnessed with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. After the islands coalesced and a continuous layer formed, the first crystallites were found to grow, starting the layer-by-layer growth mode. High-temperature ALD ZnO layers were also investigated in terms of crystallization onset, showing that layers are amorphous up to a thickness of 3 nm, irrespective of the deposition temperature and growth orientation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 43-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
PRASANNA GANDHI ◽  
SUHAS DESHMUKH ◽  
RAHUL RAMTEKKAR ◽  
KIRAN BHOLE ◽  
ALEM BARAKI

Microstereolithography (MSL) is technology of fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) components by using layer-by-layer photopolymerization. Typical design goals of MSL system are: small features, high resolution, high speed of fabrication, and large overall size of component. This paper focuses on design and development of such a system to meet these optomechatronic requirements. We first analyze various optical scanning schemes used for MSL systems along with the proposed scheme via optical simulations and experiments. Next, selection criteria for various subsystems are laid down and appropriate design decisions for the proposed system are made. Further, mechanical design of the scanning mechanism is carried out to meet requirements of high speed and resolution. Finally, system integration and investigation in process parameters is carried out and fabrication of large microcomponent with high resolution is demonstrated. The proposed system would be useful for fabrication of multiple/large microcomponents with high production rate in various applications.


1996 ◽  
Vol 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weida Gian ◽  
Marek Skowronski ◽  
Greg S. Rohrer

AbstractMicrostructure and extended defects in α-GaN films grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire substrates using low temperature AIN (or GaN) buffer layers have been studied using transmission electron microscopy. The types and distribution of extended defects were correlated with the film growth mode and the layer nucleation mechanism which was characterized by scanning force microscopy. The nature of the extended defects was directly related to the initial three-dimensional growth. It was found that inhomogeneous nucleation leads to a grain-like structure in the buffer; the GaN films then have a columnar structure with a high density of straight edge dislocations at grain boundaries which are less likely to be suppressed by common annihilation mechanisms. Layer-by-layer growth proceeds in many individual islands which is evidenced by the observation of hexagonal growth hillocks. Each growth hillock has an open-core screw dislocation at its center which emits monolayer-height spiral steps.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Roland

Strain relaxation in lattice-mismatched, heteroepitaxial systems is one of the classic problems in materials physics, which has gained new urgency with the increased applications of strained layers in microelectronic systems. In general both the structure and the integrity of the thin films are strongly influenced by strain. For instance it has long been known that under strain, the growth changes from an initial layer-by-layer growth mode to one with three-dimensional islanding. In the seminal works of van der Merwe, and Matthews and Blakeslee, this change in growth mode is explained in terms of the introduction of strain-relieving misfit dislocations, which appear when the film has reached some critical thickness. Recently it has become clear that this change in growth mode can take place even without the introduction of misfit dislocations. Such dislocation-free coherent islanding, or “roughening,” has been observed experimentally both in Ge/Si and in InGaAs/GaAs systems. Furthermore recent experiments show that in Ge/Si(100) systems, the thin films display a curious asymmetry with respect to the sign of the strain: Films under compression roughen by forming coherent islands while those under tension remain relatively smooth. A possible mechanism behind this strain-induced type of roughening is the subject of this article.


1996 ◽  
Vol 449 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Di Felice ◽  
J. E. Northrup ◽  
J. Neugebauer

ABSTRACTWe present a first-principles characterization of the initial stages of formation of AlN films on c-plane SiC substrates. Studying the competition between two-dimensional films and three-dimensional islands as a function of Al and N abundances, we find that a two-dimensional film can wet the surface in N-rich conditions. Ordered layer-by-layer growth can proceed to some extent on this wetting layer, and is improved by the formation of an atomically mixed interface which eliminates interface charge accumulation. Our results indicate that the stable AlN films grow in the (0001) orientation on the Si-terminated SiC(0001) substrate.


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