Surface flattening and Ge crystalline segregation of Ag/Ge structure by thermal anneal

Abstract

We have studied the formation of an ultrathin Ge crystalline layer by thermal annealing of Ag/Ge(100) and Ag/Ge(111) to obtain insights into the growth kinetics of two-dimensional Ge crystal. An atomic force microscope was used to evaluate the effect of the surface orientation of the Ge substrate on the surface morphology change by annealing in N2 ambience at atmospheric pressure. Moreover, a very flat surface was obtained for both Ag/Ge(100) and the Ag/Ge(111) by controlling the anneal temperature. In addition, analysis of the Raman scattering spectroscopy indicated the formation of surface segregated Ge with high crystallinity on a flat Ag surface.