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Title: Surface stability and the selection rules of substrate orientation for optimal growth of epitaxial II-VI semiconductors

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4932374· OSTI ID:1225936
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The surface structures of ionic zinc-blende CdTe (001), (110), (111), and (211) surfaces are systematically studied by first-principles density functional calculations. Based on the surface structures and surface energies, we identify the detrimental twinning appearing in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of II-VI compounds as the (111) lamellar twin boundaries. Here, to avoid the appearance of twinning in MBE growth, we propose the following selection rules for choosing optimal substrate orientations: (1) the surface should be nonpolar so that there is no large surface reconstructions that could act as a nucleation center and promote the formation of twins; (2) the surface structure should have low symmetry so that there are no multiple equivalent directions for growth. These straightforward rules, in consistent with experimental observations, provide guidelines for selecting proper substrates for high-quality MBE growth of II-VI compounds.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1225936
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5K00-63854
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 14; Related Information: Applied Physics Letters; ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
II-VI semiconductors
semiconductor surfaces
surface reconstruction
molecular beam epitaxy
surface structure
semiconductors
crystal structure
crystallographic defects
chemical bonding
selection rule
epitaxy
crystal twinnings
surface physics
density functional theory
electrostatics