Morphology of (001) and (110) surfaces of crystal layers in solid solutions of II-VI compounds with a high ZnSe content under atmospheric conditions

The atomic-force microscopy is used for studying the effect of atmospheric conditions on the morphology of (001) growth surfaces and (110) cleavage pl anes of layers in II-VI compounds with a high ZnSe content. It is proved di rectly for the first time that the formation of nanoclusters on these surfa ces is accompanied by corrosion of the entire surface due to the accumulati on of corrosion products. The corrosion of the surface attains saturation e ven at a depth of a few (2-3) monolayers, which constrains the total volume of nanoclusters on the surface. A further increase in the size of nanoclus ters with time occurs due to a decrease in their number. The corrosion dept h can locally increase significantly in the surface regions with considerab le internal stresses; in particular, corrosion can evolve deep inside the s tressed interfaces in instrumental structures. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interpe riodica".