Ge-Quantum Dots on SI(001) Tailored by Carbon Predeposition

1998 ◽  
Vol 533 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Leifeld ◽  
D. Grützmacher ◽  
B. Müller ◽  
K. Kern

AbstractThe morphology of Si(001) after carbon deposition of 0.05 to 0.11 monolayers (ML) was investigated in situ by ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-STM). The carbon induces a c(4×4)-reconstruction of the surface. In addition, carbon increases the surface roughness compared to clean Si(001) (2×1). In a second step, the influence of the carbon induced restructuring on Ge-island nucleation was investigated. The 3D-growth sets in at considerably lower Ge coverage compared to the clean Si(001) (2×1) surface. This leads to a high density of small though irregularly shaped dots, consisting of stepped terraces, already at 2.5 ML Ge. Increasing the Ge-coverage beyond the critical thickness for facet formation, the dots show { 105 }- facets well known from Ge-clusters on bare Si(001) (2×1). However, they are flat on top with a (001)-facet showing the typical buckled Ge rows and missing dimers. This indicates that the compressive strain is not fully relaxed in these hut clusters.

1995 ◽  
Vol 399 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Jay Chey ◽  
Joseph E. Van Nostrand ◽  
David G. Cahill

ABSTRACTThe evolution of surface morphology during low temperature crystal growth by molecular beam epitaxy and etching by low-energy ions is characterized by in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy. Epitaxial growth of Ge(001) at low temperatures in the vicinity of 155°C produces a pattern of growth mounds while etching at temperatures near 270°C produces a pattern of low aspect ratio pits. The characteristic in-plane length scale of the surface roughness d increase with a power law dependence on time but the exponent depends on temperature and process. Prior to the onset of amorphous growth, the amplitude of the surface roughness G1/2(d/2) increases more rapidly than d; i.e. the slope of the sides of the growth mounds increases with time. By contrast, the ratio of Gl/2(d/2) to d remains nearly constant during ion etching for a wide range of etching times.


1999 ◽  
Vol 580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agus Subagyo ◽  
Kazuhisa Sueoka ◽  
Koichi Mukasa

AbstractWe reported a scanning tunneling microscopy(STM) observation on the growth mode transition from 2D-nucleation to spiral growth in the epitaxial Fe films on MgO(001). As the growth temperature is increased to above 493 K, a temperature region where the Schwoebel barrier is overcome, the Fe films grow in a 2D-nucleation and growth mode formed atomically flat films. The 2D-nucleation transformed into a spiral growth as increasing film thickness. At a growth temperature of 493 K, the transition of 2D nucleation to the spiral growth was observed at a film thickness of 75 Å. The critical thickness of the emergence of growth transition decreased as the growth temperature is increased.


Author(s):  
I. H. Musselman ◽  
R.-T. Chen ◽  
P. E. Russell

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to characterize the surface roughness of nonlinear optical (NLO) polymers. A review of STM of polymer surfaces is included in this volume. The NLO polymers are instrumental in the development of electrooptical waveguide devices, the most fundamental of which is the modulator. The most common modulator design is the Mach Zehnder interferometer, in which the input light is split into two legs and then recombined into a common output within the two dimensional waveguide. A π phase retardation, resulting in total light extinction at the output of the interferometer, can be achieved by changing the refractive index of one leg with respect to the other using the electrooptic effect. For best device performance, it is essential that the NLO polymer exhibit minimal surface roughness in order to reduce light scattering. Scanning tunneling microscopy, with its high lateral and vertical resolution, is capable of quantifying the NLO polymer surface roughness induced by processing. Results are presented below in which STM was used to measure the surface roughness of films produced by spin-coating NLO-active polymers onto silicon substrates.


1994 ◽  
Vol 332 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Lindsay ◽  
J. Pan ◽  
T.W. Jing

ABSTRACTWe use electrochemical methods to control the adsorption of molecules onto an electrode for imaging in-situ by scanning tunneling microscopy. Measurements of the barrier for electron tunneling show that the mechanism of electron transfer differs from vacuum tunneling. Barriers depend upon the direction of electron tunneling, indicating the presence of permanently aligned dipoles in the tunnel gap. We attribute a sharp dip in the barrier near zero field to induced polarization. We propose a ‘tunneling’ process consisting of two parts: One is delocalization of quantum-coherent states in parts of the molecular adlayer that hybridize strongly (interaction ≥ kT) with Bloch states in the metal. This gives rise to a quantum-point-contact conductance, Gc ≤ 2e2/h at a height zo. The other part comes from the exponential decay of the tails of localized states, G = Gc exp{−2K(z − z0)}. Because measured decay lengths, (2K‘)−1, are small (≈ 1 Å), STM contrast is dominated by the contour along which G[z0 (x,y)] = Gc. Measured changes in z0 are used to calculate images which are in reasonable agreement with observations. We illustrate this with images of synthetic DNA oligomers.


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