SURFACTANT-MEDIATED GROWTH OF GERMANIUM ON SILICON (001) WITH SUBMONOLAYER COVERAGE OF SB AND TE

Surfactant-mediated growth of germanium on silicon (001) with submonol ayer coverages of antimony and tellurium, respectively, was investigat ed with reflection high-energy electron diffraction and transmission e lectron microscopy. Approximately 0.2 monolayer of antimony is needed for a complete suppression of islanding for the growth at 450-degrees- C. For growth at a lower temperature (270-degrees-C), only approximate ly 10% of a monolayer antimony or tellurium is needed in order to obta in smooth epitaxial germanium layers. No differences could be detected between tellurium and antimony in the behavior as a surfactant. The p erformed surfactant-mediated growth experiments can be understood as t he kinetic suppression of islanding due to a reduction in surface diff usion of germanium adatoms.