Pb preadsorption facilitates island formation during Ge growth on Si(111)

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Abstract
On a clean Si(111)-7×7 surface, Ge grows in the Stranski–Krastanov mode. At 300–450 °C, relaxed islands begin to form when the Ge growth is 6 monolayers (ML) thick. When Ge is grown on a Pb/Si(111)-√3×√3 surface, Pb segregates on the surface and agglomerates into two-dimensional islands. And the critical thickness for the formation of relaxed island becomes 4 ML. This change in critical thickness is explained by Pb reducing the surface energy or by an improved crystallinity of Ge layers (due to a simplified substrate surface reconstruction), or by both.

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