Hou, Y, Jia, H, Tang, M et al. (8 more authors) (2022) A thermally erasable silicon oxide layer for molecular beam epitaxy. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 55 (42). 424004. ISSN 0022-3727
Abstract
We present a systematic study of the oxidation and deoxidation behaviours of several kinds of ultrathin silicon oxide layers frequently used in silicon (Si) technology, which in this work serve as surface protecting layers for molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). With various characterization techniques, we demonstrate that a chemically grown silicon oxide layer is the most promising candidate for subsequent removal in an ultra-high vacuum chamber at a temperature of 1000 ∘C, without making use of a reducing agent. As a demonstration, a tensile-strained Ge(100) layer is epitaxially grown on the deoxidised wafer with an atomically flat surface and a low threading dislocation density of 3.33 × 108 cm−2. Our findings reveal that the ultra-thin oxide layer grown using a chemical approach is able to protect Si surfaces for subsequent MBE growth of Ge. This approach is promising for the growth of III/V-on-Si (using Ge as a buffer) and all group-IV related epitaxy for integration on the Si photonics platforms.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Keywords: | MBE oxidation; deoxidation; Ge; Si |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/W021080/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Sep 2022 10:07 |
Last Modified: | 07 Sep 2022 10:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Institute of Physics Publishing |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1361-6463/ac8600 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:190724 |
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