Monte carlo simulation of the growth of semiconductor quantum wires

Abstract

The results of Monte Carlo simulation of the growth of semiconductors on (001), (111), and (411) surfaces are presented. The simulation model includes tetrahedral lattice coordination of material, atom-atom interactions out to second-nearest neighbors, and surface reconstruction effects. The simulation results show that the transition from rough to smooth growth mode for the (111) surface occurs at lower temperatures than for growth on the (001) surface, indicating a higher diffusion coefficient of adatoms on the (111) surface in comparison with (001). The results of simulation growth on the (411) surface do not show any essential difference from (001) growth. The formation of structures on the top of ridges formed on (001) and (411) planes has been simulated. The (111) side walls were found to be flat in both cases owing to a substrate temperature which is high enough to ensure high mobility of adatoms on the (111) surface. The (001) and (411) surfaces on the top of the ridges showed approximately the same quality and the only difference found was in their shape, which was symmetric for the (001), and not symmetric for the (411) case.