High-Speed Epitaxy Using Supersonic Molecular Jets

This paper discusses the use of supersonic jets of gaseous source molecules in thin film growth. Molecular jets in free form with no skimmers or collimators in the nozzle-substrate path were used in the investigation of basic film growth processes and in practical film growth applications. The Ge growth rates were found to depend linearly on the digermane jet intensity. Furthermore, the film thickness distributions showed excellent agreement with the distribution of digermane molecules in the jet. High epitaxial Ge growth rates were achieved on GaAs (100) substrates by utilizing high-intensity pulsed jets. The practical advantages and limitations of this film growth technique are evaluated, based on the results of microstructural and electrical measurements of heteroepitaxial Ge films on GaAs (100) substrates.