Size effects on the growth mode and roughness of sub-micron structures grown by selective area epitaxy

We have observed changes in the morphology of InP films grown in epi-ready substrates and on patterns created by photo and plow-mode AFM lithography. These changes are attributed to different levels of contamination of the su rface, which favor nucleation of clusters over a two-dimensional film for t he lithography-processed surface. The area of nucleation is smaller than th e dimensions of the patterns created by lithography, so no size effects due to the presence of the pattern could be observed. The film morphologies ex hibited well defined exponents for system sizes smaller than 0.2 mu m but n o defined growth exponent.