In-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction study of epitaxial growth of Cu on NaCl (100) under oblique angle vapor deposition

Epitaxial growth of copper on annealed NaCl(100) surface was carried out using thermal evaporation at an oblique angle of incidence (75 ± 5)° with respect to the substrate normal. The substrate was kept at a temperature of (150 ± 5)°C. The crystalline structure of the Cu film was studied in situ by reflection high energy electron diffraction at various deposition times. We observed that the film grows through nucleation of epitaxial islands followed by coalescence and then flattening of the film. The chevron shaped diffraction patterns formed by the refraction effect of electrons were used to identify the crystal facets. With longer deposition times, instead of columnar structures, a continuous epitaxial film was formed despite the oblique angle incidence of the vapor. The morphology of the final film was characterized ex situ by atomic force microscopy and shows L-shaped pores asymmetric with respect to the vapor incident direction.     

The effect of growth parameters on CrN thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

In this paper, we report on the controlling of the effect of growth parameters such as substrate temperature and the ratio of Cr and N atoms on phase formation, surface morphology and crystallization of CrN(001) thin films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on the MgO(001) substrate. The reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy are used to characterize the thin films grown under various conditions. High-quality CrN(001) thin films are achieved at a substrate temperature 430 °C with a low Cr deposition rate.     

Adatoms of indium on Si(111) surfaces: Application of reflection high energy electron diffraction to desorption experiments

An attempt is made to derive thermodynamic quantities which characterize the initial stages of film growth using reflection high energy electron diffraction. Critical temperatures for the appearance of superstructures (√3 × √3, √31 × √31 and 4 × 1) are determined for Si(111) surfaces which were bombarded with constant-flux molecular beams of indium (J = (0.05?3.5) × 10^-2 monolayers s^-1). Equilibrium between adsorption and desorption was observed at temperatures above 450 °C. From the J dependence of the critical temperatures, the sojourn time of indium adatoms on Si(111) 7 × 7 is estimated to be $\text{τ}{}_7\text{(T) = 9 × 10}{}^{-13}\text{exp}\text{(}\text{238}\text{kJ mol}{}^{-1}\text{RT}\text{)s}$.     

Epitaxial growth of topological insulator Bi2Se3 film on Si(111) with atomically sharp interface

Atomically sharp epitaxial growth of Bi₂Se₃ films is achieved on Si(111) substrate with molecular beam epitaxy. Two-step growth process is found to be a key to achieve interfacial-layer-free epitaxial Bi₂Se₃ films on Si substrates. With a single-step high temperature growth, second phase clusters are formed at an early stage. On the other hand, with low temperature growth, the film tends to be disordered even in the absence of a second phase. With a low temperature initial growth followed by a high temperature growth, second-phase-free atomically sharp interface is obtained between Bi₂Se₃ and Si substrate, as verified by reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction. The lattice constant of Bi₂Se₃ is observed to relax to its bulk value during the first quintuple layer according to RHEED analysis, implying the absence of strain from the substrate. TEM shows a fully epitaxial structure of Bi₂Se₃ film down to the first quintuple layer without any second phase or an amorphous layer.     

Si(111)衬底上3C-SiC的固源MBE异质外延生长

国内首次利用固源分子束外延(MBE)技术,在衬底温度为1100℃时,以Si(111)为衬底成功地外延生长出了3C-SiC单晶薄膜。通过X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼光谱(Raman)以及原位反射高能电子衍射(RHEED)等手段研究了外延薄膜的晶型、结晶质量、外延膜与衬底的外延取向关系,并考察了薄膜制备过程中衬底的碳化对薄膜质量的影响。结果表明,外延膜与衬底晶格取向完全一致;碳化可以减小SiC和衬底Si之间的晶格失配、释放应力、引入成核中心,有利于薄膜单晶质量的提高;碳化温度存在最佳值,这一现象与成核过程有关。