Low-Temperature Si (111) Homoepitaxy and Doping Mediated by a Monolayer of Pb

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe codeposition of Pb during Si (111) molecular beam homoepitaxy leads to high-quality crystalline films at temperatures for which films deposited on bare Si (111) are amorphous. Like other growth mediating elements-- commonly called surfactants-- Pb segregates to the film surface. Ion channeling and transmission electron microscopy reveal nearly defect-free epitaxy for a Pb coverage of one monolayer and temperatures as low as 310 °C. We have deposited films up to 1000 Å in thickness with no indication that this is an upper limit for high-quality epitaxy. However, a decrease in the Pb coverage during growth by only one tenth of a monolayer leads to highly defective films at these temperatures. The codeposition of both As and Pb results in a striking enhancement of the film quality as well. In this case, while the Pb again segregates to the film surface, the As is incorporated into the film with no apparent segregation. Lead-mediated Si epitaxy on As-terminated Si (111) produces high-quality films in which the As remains buried at the substrate-film interface. These results show Pb-mediated Si (111) homoepitaxy to be a promising strategy for the synthesis of layered structures having abrupt nanoscale dopant profiles