Nonlinear Optical Study of Si Epitaxy

Abstract

AbstractThe applicability of the nonlinear optical technique of surface second-harmonic generation to in-situ studies of epitaxial and non-epitaxial crystal growth of centrosymmetric materials is demonstrated. In measurements of the deposition of atomic Si on Si(111)-7×7 surfaces, the (anisotropic) second-harmonic response is seen to be sensitive to the ordering of fractional monolayers of adatoms. For deposition on a substrate held at room temperature, the second-harmonic data are consistent with the formation of a disordered adlayer on top of the original reconstructed surface. The results of real-time measurements of the thermal annealing of disordered Si adlayers of monolayer thickness are also presented.