Effect of growth parameters on the formation of three-dimensional InAs islands on (001) silicon substrate

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to find optimal conditions for the growth of three-dimensional (3D) InAs islands on (2 x 1) (001) Si substrate using modified Stranski-Krastanow (S-K) method. From the analysis of atomic-force-microscopy (AFM) images and reflection-high-energy-electron-diffraction (RHEED) patterns, we have found that InAs islands can be grown on Si when the growth temperature is in the range of 370-430 degrees C and also when In-injection of more than three periods is used. At the growth temperature of 390 degrees C and In-injection of four periods, uniform distribution of islands with the highest density of about 600/mu m(2) were obtained. The average width and height of these islands were 36.1 +/- 9.2 nm and 6.2 +/- 2.0 nm, respectively. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim