Evolution of self-assembled Ge/Si(211) islands

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Abstract
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy have been used to investigate Ge islands, grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(211) substrates with a nominal 15 Å Ge coverage at temperatures between 600 and 700 °C. The majority of islands grown at all three temperatures had irregular hexagonal footprints. Intermediate-sized islands grown at 650 and 700 °C became elongated laterally in the 〈111〉 direction parallel to the direction of substrate surface step edges. AFM cross-sectional analysis indicated that small coherent clusters were bound by {111} and {113} facets, whereas the largest dislocated clusters were primarily bound by {111} and {001} facets. The upper size bound for coherent clusters increased with increasing growth temperature.