C. Deng et al., SURFACE EVOLUTION IN A PULSED-LASER INDUCED EPITAXY PROCESS OF SUBMICRON SIGE WIRES, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 143(8), 1996, pp. 2678-2680
(100) Si substrates are patterned with arrays of Ge wires similar to 6
0 nm in width and similar to 6 nm in thickness. Pulsed laser induced e
pitaxy (PLIE) is used in an attempt to fabricate ultrasmall dimension
Ge1-xSix wires. After laser irradiation, interesting changes on the su
rface are observed. In particular, ripples as high as similar to 30 nm
are formed after the 6 nm Ge wires are incorporated into the substrat
e. The ripples decrease in height with further laser irradiation. The
height is a function of the Ge wire width. Nomarski, scanning electron
, atomic force, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy a
re used in the analysis. Possible explanations for the growth of the f
eatures are discussed.