EPITAXY OF GOLD EVAPORATED ONTO POLAR SURFACES OF ZnO AT 20°K

Abstract
Gold films (200–500 Å) have been evaporated onto air‐ and vacuum‐cleaved polar surfaces of ZnO. While the films grown on the air‐cleaved surfaces are polycrystalline in a temperature range from 20 to about 450°K, the films grown on the vacuum‐cleaved surfaces are perfect (111) single crystals in the investigated temperature range from 20 to 700°K. The low‐temperature epitaxy can be explained by the strong binding energy between overgrowth and substrate, caused by the polarity of the substrate.