Epitaxial growth in dislocation-free strained asymmetric alloy films

Abstract

Epitaxial growth in strained asymmetric, dislocation-free, coherent, alloy films is explored. Linear-stability analysis is used to theoretically analyze the coupled instability arising jointly from the substrate-film lattice mismatch (morphological instability) and the spinodal decomposition mechanism. Both the static and growing films are considered. Role of various parameters in determining stability regions for a coherent growing alloy film is investigated. In addition to the usual parameters: lattice mismatch $ϵ$, solute-expansion coefficient $\ensuremath{\eta}$, growth velocity $V$, and growth temperature $T$, we consider the alloy asymmetry arising from its mean composition. The dependence of elastic moduli on composition fluctuations and the coupling between top surface and underlying bulk of the film also play important roles. The theory is applied to group III-V films such as GaAsN, InGaN, and InGaP and to group IV Si-Ge films at temperatures below the bare critical temperature ${T}_{c}$ for strain-free spinodal decomposition. The dependences of various material parameters on mean concentration and temperature lead to significant qualitative changes.