Boron-mediated growth of Ge quantum dots on Si(100) substrate

The influence of boron atoms on the growth of self-organized Ge quantum dot s (QDs) on Si(100) substrate is studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). T he boron coverage varied from 0 monolayers (ML) to 0.3 ML. AFM observation shows that the boron atoms have a great influence on the size, uniformity a nd the density of Ge QDs. In the presence of 0.2 ML of boron atoms, the gro wth of quite uniform Ge QDs is achieved with a mean base diameter of 60 nm and areal density of 6 x 10(9) cm(-2). The mechanism of B atom influence on the growth of Ge QDs is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All righ ts reserved.