Epitaxial Film Growth of Tl0.78Bi0.22Sr1.6Ba0.4Ca2Cu3O9 on Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Nickel Substrates with YSZ And CeO2 Buffer Layers

Epitaxial film growth of Tl_0.78Bi_0.22Sr_1.6Ba_0.4Ca₂Cu₃O₉ ((Tl,Bi)-1223) on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrates with YSZ and CeO₂ buffer layers (RABiTS) has been successfully demonstrated by laser ablation and post-deposition annealing in flowing argon. X-ray diffraction (XRD) -2 spectra showed that the films consisted mainly of c-axis aligned 1223 phase with some intergrown 1212 phase, while XRD -scans of (102) pole figure revealed that the films are also a- and b-axes aligned, with an epitaxy of the «100» of (Tl,Bi)-1223 film on the «110» of the top YSZ buffer layer. Four-terminal electrical transport measurements showed that the zero-resistance transition temperature (T_c) was in the range of 106 - 110 K, and the critical current density (J_c) at 77 K and zero field was about 10⁵ A/cm² for the entire film width (3 mm) of a longer film (14 mm) which was processed differently from the shorter films (7 mm). For a shorter film (7 mm) that showed better ab-in-plane alignment, the magnetization J_c, at 77 K and extrapolated to zero field, calculated from Bean's model using the full film width (3.5 mm) as the appropriate lateral dimension, was 2 × 10⁵ A/cm².     

Shortened photoconductance lifetime of Si/SiGe heterostructures due to interfacial oxygen or carbon from incomplete in-situ hydrogen cleans

The photoconductance decay lifetime in pseudomorpically strained <100> Si/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 heterostructures grown by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition is measured in heterostructures with and without oxygen and carbon at the interface between the silicon substrate and epitaxial Si_0.7Ge_0.3 layer. A standard ex-situ clean combined with an in-situ hydrogen cleaning step using different combinations of hydrogen flows (0-20 slpm), pressure (80-8.8×10⁴ Pa), and temperature (760-865 °C) are used to produce high oxygen and or carbon concentrations at the interface, measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. For all cases in which oxygen was detected at the interface the heterostructure's lifetime were significantly shorter, 55-113 μs, compared to that in device quality Si/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 heterostructures, 530 μs, grown using a 1 min, 900 °C in-situ hydrogen bake that regularly reduces oxygen and carbon contamination below SIMS detection limits. Numeric simulations of the Si/Si_0.7Ge_0.3 heterostructures indicate that increasing recombination at the interface leads to a saturation of the lifetime at approximately 55 μs due to electron transport limited recombination at the Si/SiGe interface, consistent with the experimental observations.     

Initial stage growth of GexSi1?x layers and Ge quantum dot formation on GexSi1?x surface by MBE

Critical thicknesses of two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth in Ge_xSi_1−x layers were measured as a function of composition for different growth temperatures. In addition to the (2 × 1) superstructure for a Ge film grown on Si(100), the Ge_xSi_1−x layers are characterized by the formation of (2 × n) reconstruction. We measured n for all layers of Ge/Ge_xSi_1−x/Ge heterosystem using our software with respect to the video recording of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) pattern during growth. The n reaches a minimum value of about 8 for clear Ge layer, whereas for Ge_xSi_1−x films, n is increased from 8 to 14. The presence of a thin strained film of the Ge_xSi_1−x caused not only the changes in critical thicknesses of the transitions, but also affected the properties of the germanium nanocluster array for the top Ge layer. Based on the RHEED data, the hut-like island form, which has not been previously observed by us between the hut and dome islands, has been detected. Data on the growth of Ge/Ge_xSi_1−x/Ge heterostructures with the uniform array of islands in the second layer of the Ge film have been received.     

Epitaxial stress and texture in thin oxide layers grown on Fe-Al alloys

The development of internal stress and texture in the oxide scales grown on Fe-15 at.% Al (1 0 0) and (1 1 1) single crystals at 700 °C was determined in situ using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. At this low oxidation temperature oxide scale thickness as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy was situated between 100 and 150 nm after 650 min oxidation. Trigonal α-Fe₂O₃ was found to act as a crystallographic template for the nucleation of isostructural α-Al₂O₃. Strain behavior during oxidation was found to be influenced by the epitaxial relationship between α-Al₂O₃ and α-Fe₂O₃.     

Epitaxial growth of binary and ternary metallic strained superlattices and their magnetic properties

Since the structure at/near the interface of superlattices influences physical properties such as magnetic property, it is important to investigate details of the structure. The interface structure is characterized by the factors like atomic species, strain, mixing and roughness. The reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) system installed in our molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) system enables us to observe, continuously, the change of the surface in-plane lattice constant, which is affected by atomic species, strain and/or mixing, on a realtime basis. Ternary superlattices consisting of three elements can clarify the effect of stacking sequence by comparison between the two types of superlattices with the reverse deposition sequences, since the effect caused by the combination of the same atomic species is cancelled out and the effect caused by the different stacking sequences remains. In the present paper, we review growth behaviors of binary and ternary metallic strained superlattices, especially magnetic ones, investigated mainly by our group, and summarize the discussion on their magnetic properties, mainly on the magnetic anisotropy, in terms of their structural characteristics. First, we introduce our RHEED system that works efficiently under a magnetic field arising from evaporation sources for low vapor-pressure materials. Then, MBE-grown binary strained superlattices, Co/Au, Co/Pt and Cu/Au, are discussed, with comparing to incoherent superlattices of Co/Ag and Cu/Ag having nearly the same lattice mismatch of constituents. Next, we review ternary strained superlattices with immiscible constituents with reverse deposition order, Au/Co/Ag and Ag/Co/Au superlattices, and Au/Co/Cu and Cu/Co/Au superlattices, in relation to the growth behaviors of binary superlattices. Finally, ternary strained superlattices containing both miscible and immiscible constituents, Pt/Co/Ag and Ag/Co/Pt superlattices, and Au/Ni/Ag and Ag/Ni/Au superlattices, are reviewed.     

减小硅外延自掺杂影响的改进的二步外延法

叙述了一种减小硅外延自掺杂影响的改进的二步外延法：减压－常压二步法。采用该方法所生长的外延层，其过渡区明显小于常规二步法的结果，和单纯减压方法所得的结果相当，外延层晶格质量明显优于单纯减压外延的结果。     

Effect of growth parameters on the heteroepitaxy of 3C-SiC on 6H-SiC substrate by chemical vapor deposition

Epitaxial 3C-SiC(1 1 1) films were grown on 6H-SiC(0 0 0 1) Si face on axis substrates by chemical vapor deposition under H₂, SiH₄ and C₃H₈ in a cold wall vertical reactor. Two temperatures were studied (1450 and 1700 °C) with various C/Si ratio and deposition time. It was found that under conditions giving high lateral growth (low C/Si and/or high temperature), homoepitaxial growth occurred even at temperatures as low as 1450 °C. For other conditions, the 3C-SiC polytype was detected and always together with the formation of double positioning boundaries whose density was found to depend on the growth conditions but not on the initial surface reconstruction. Single domain enlargement was observed when growth was performed at 1700 °C over a nucleation layer grown at 1450 °C.     

Structural study of thin MgO layers on Ag(001) prepared by either MBE or sputter deposition

Growth, morphology and structure of thin MgO films prepared on Ag(001) substrates by different preparation procedures have been investigated by AES, LEED and modulated electron emission. Oxide layers were prepared by Mg MBE in an oxygen atmosphere or sputter deposition from bulk MgO target. In both cases stoichiometric MgO forms, which initially grows in a rocksalt tetragonally distorted structure. For 3-ML films, 3.6% expansion of the interlayer spacing along the growth axis has been measured. The misfit strain progressively reduces as the film thickness increases, and the equilibrium spacing is completely recovered at 8–10 ML thickness. In spite of the similarity in structure and strain, different deposition procedures lead to different film morphology. Sputter deposited films only partially cover the substrate. Fractional coverage (50%) has been evaluated for the 3-ML thick film, and full coverage only occurs at approximately 10 ML thickness. The MBE procedure results in almost complete layers. Fourfold broadening of spot profiles has been observed in LEED patterns of both MBE and sputter deposited films, indicating the occurrence of a similar large-scale atomic arrangement and surface morphology.     

Epitaxial growth of nonpolar m-plane ZnO (10-10) on large-size LiGaO2 (100) substrates

Nonpolar m-plane ZnO epitaxial film with [10-10] orientation was successfully grown on a large-size (100) LiGaO₂ single crystal substrate by chemical vapor deposition method. The dependence of growth characteristics on the different growth conditions was investigated. Following CVD growth, the surface morphologies and epi-film crystallinity were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectra exhibit a strong near-band-edge emission peak at 377 nm with a negligible green band. Raman spectroscopy showed that the as-grown (10-10) ZnO epilayer on (100) LiGaO₂ are under compressive stress. Further structural characterization and defect analysis of nonpolar ZnO material was performed using transmission electron microscopy.     

Self-patterned Nano Structures in Structurally Gradient Epitaxial La0.5Ba0.5CoO3 Films

Highly epitaxial La_0.5Ba_0.5CoO₃ (LBCO) thin films with sharp interface and a thickness of 200 nm were epitaxially grown on (001) SrTiO₃ substrates using pulsed laser deposition. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction analysis revealed that the films have a triple-layered structure. The first layer, close to the film/substrate interface, has a thickness of ~ 6 nm and is a defect free single crystal disordered cubic structure (a = 3.882 Å) which has a lattice mismatch of − 0.59% with respect to the substrate. The second layer which dominates the film structure has a single crystal disordered cubic structure (a = 3.854 Å) which has a lattice mismatch of − 1.31% with respect to the substrate. The third layer located on the top of the film has a thickness of several nanometers and consists of 112-type ordered tetragonal structure. The cubic structures in the first and second layer have an orientation relationship of (001)_LBCO//(001)_STO and < 100 > _LBCO//< 100 > _STO with respect to the substrate. Self-patterned 3-dimensional nano structures with a dimension range from 2 to 10 nm were formed in the second and third layers. These nano structures were formed by the enclosure of anti-phase boundary planes which are parallel to the {100} of the cubic structure. Epitaxial LBCO thin films with such nano structures are hard ferromagnetic with a large coercive field value and magnetoresistance effect value (~ 24%), and exhibit semiconductor behavior at temperatures < 300 K.