Indium growth on Si(100)-2×1 by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Indium was grown on Si(100)-2×1 at room temperature by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) was performed in situ to study film morphology and in-plane lattice spacing. Indium was found to grow on Si(100)-2×1 by the Stranski–Krastanov mode. The initial two-dimensional In layer formed in the In-2×1 structure with a lattice constant of 3.65Å. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the specular peak decreased during the growth, indicating an increase of the In islands size. Further In growth on the initial In-2×1 layer showed the formation of hexagonal, elongated, and hemispherical islands when examined ex situ by atomic force microscopy. The hexagonal islands were faceted and varied in size from ∼170to∼400nm, with an average height of 5nm. The elongated islands showed preferential growth orientation and had a length and height of ∼200 and ∼60nm, respectively.