Initial growth mechanism of AlAs on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract
The initial growth mechanism of AlAs-on-Si(111) substrate was investigated. The suppression of three-dimensional growth was successfully realized at the initial growth stage, which is difficult in the growth of GaAs on Si. The initial growth process was clarified, in which the lattice relaxation proceeded gradually. It took about 30 ML to relax the lattice completely at the growth temperature of 400 °C. GaAs was grown in the two-dimensional mode on the completely relaxed AlAs on the Si(111) substrate.