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Title: Interplay between elastic interactions and kinetic processes in stepped Si (001) homoepitaxy

Abstract

A vicinal Si (001) surface may form stripes of terraces, separated by monatomic-layer-high steps of two kinds, S-A and S-B. As adatoms diffuse on the terraces and attach to or detach from the steps, the steps move. In equilibrium, the steps are equally spaced due to elastic interaction. During deposition, however, S-A is less mobile than S-B. We model the interplay between the elastic and kinetic effects that drives step motion, and show that during homoepitaxy all the steps may move in a steady state, such that alternating terraces have time-independent, but unequal, widths. The ratio between the widths of neighboring terraces is tunable by the deposition flux and substrate temperature. We study the stability of the steady-state mode of growth using both linear perturbation analysis and numerical simulations. We elucidate the delicate roles played by the standard Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers and inverse ES barriers in influencing growth stability in the complex system containing (S-A+S-B) step pairs.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Harvard University
  2. ORNL
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
931902
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 74; Journal Issue: 23
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; SILICON; TEXTURE; DEPOSITION; KINETICS; EPITAXY; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; CRYSTAL GROWTH

Citation Formats

Hong, W, Zhang, Zhenyu, and Suo, Z. Interplay between elastic interactions and kinetic processes in stepped Si (001) homoepitaxy. United States: N. p., 2006. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.74.235318.
Hong, W, Zhang, Zhenyu, & Suo, Z. Interplay between elastic interactions and kinetic processes in stepped Si (001) homoepitaxy. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.235318
Hong, W, Zhang, Zhenyu, and Suo, Z. 2006. "Interplay between elastic interactions and kinetic processes in stepped Si (001) homoepitaxy". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.235318.
@article{osti_931902,
title = {Interplay between elastic interactions and kinetic processes in stepped Si (001) homoepitaxy},
author = {Hong, W and Zhang, Zhenyu and Suo, Z},
abstractNote = {A vicinal Si (001) surface may form stripes of terraces, separated by monatomic-layer-high steps of two kinds, S-A and S-B. As adatoms diffuse on the terraces and attach to or detach from the steps, the steps move. In equilibrium, the steps are equally spaced due to elastic interaction. During deposition, however, S-A is less mobile than S-B. We model the interplay between the elastic and kinetic effects that drives step motion, and show that during homoepitaxy all the steps may move in a steady state, such that alternating terraces have time-independent, but unequal, widths. The ratio between the widths of neighboring terraces is tunable by the deposition flux and substrate temperature. We study the stability of the steady-state mode of growth using both linear perturbation analysis and numerical simulations. We elucidate the delicate roles played by the standard Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers and inverse ES barriers in influencing growth stability in the complex system containing (S-A+S-B) step pairs.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.74.235318},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/931902}, journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 23,
volume = 74,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2006},
month = {Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2006}
}