Extremely dense arrays of germanium and silicon nanostructures
A.A. Shklyaev a, b,
M. Ichikawa b
a Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Akad. Lavrenteva 13, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
b Quantum-Phase Electronics Center, Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo and Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
Results of investigations into surface processes of the
formation of germanium and silicon nanostructures are analyzed. A mechanism of three-dimensional island nucleation
and relaxation of strained two-dimensional layers in heteroepitaxy of germanium on silicon, which initiates spontaneous
island growth, is considered. The oxidation of the silicon surface prior to germanium or silicon deposition drastically alters
the growth mechanism, leading to the formation of islands with
an extremely high areal density of 1012-1013 cm-2 and with
sizes of less than 10 nm. The effects of spatial quantization
determine their properties. Moreover, arrays of these islands
form a unique surface for the growth of Si layers that are able to
emit photons in the 1.5-1.6-μm wavelength range.
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