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Heteroepitaxial growth modes revisited

Johansson, Jonas LU orcid (2023) In CrystEngComm 25(48). p.6671-6676
Abstract

It is well known that the outcome of a thin film deposition experiment on a foreign substrate is determined by surface and interface energetics, which can be collected in one parameter, the change in surface energy, Ω. It is common knowledge that at equilibrium conditions, Ω < 0 leads to two-dimensional (2D) growth and Ω > 0 leads to the formation of three-dimensional (3D) islands. Using classical nucleation theory, we demonstrate the existence of an interval for the chemical potential difference during growth, where 2D nucleation is favorable for sufficiently small, but positive Ω. For larger Ω, 2D nucleation is suppressed in favor of 3D nucleation. We exemplify this for two cases where epitaxial growth is performed at low... (More)

It is well known that the outcome of a thin film deposition experiment on a foreign substrate is determined by surface and interface energetics, which can be collected in one parameter, the change in surface energy, Ω. It is common knowledge that at equilibrium conditions, Ω < 0 leads to two-dimensional (2D) growth and Ω > 0 leads to the formation of three-dimensional (3D) islands. Using classical nucleation theory, we demonstrate the existence of an interval for the chemical potential difference during growth, where 2D nucleation is favorable for sufficiently small, but positive Ω. For larger Ω, 2D nucleation is suppressed in favor of 3D nucleation. We exemplify this for two cases where epitaxial growth is performed at low supersaturation: vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires, and liquid phase epitaxy. First, we explain why certain axial nanowire heterostructures can be grown straight in both interface directions. Second, we explain the formation of multilayer heterostructures in liquid phase epitaxy. Finally, we discuss Stranski-Krastanov growth in a low supersaturation limit and show that there is a thermodynamically defined critical thickness, which increases with the chemical potential difference.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
CrystEngComm
volume
25
issue
48
pages
6 pages
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • scopus:85174918449
ISSN
1466-8033
DOI
10.1039/d3ce00664f
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
07de4b2e-2b26-435b-94cf-0b063a8db467
date added to LUP
2024-01-12 09:40:09
date last changed
2024-01-12 09:41:26
@article{07de4b2e-2b26-435b-94cf-0b063a8db467,
  abstract     = {{<p>It is well known that the outcome of a thin film deposition experiment on a foreign substrate is determined by surface and interface energetics, which can be collected in one parameter, the change in surface energy, Ω. It is common knowledge that at equilibrium conditions, Ω &lt; 0 leads to two-dimensional (2D) growth and Ω &gt; 0 leads to the formation of three-dimensional (3D) islands. Using classical nucleation theory, we demonstrate the existence of an interval for the chemical potential difference during growth, where 2D nucleation is favorable for sufficiently small, but positive Ω. For larger Ω, 2D nucleation is suppressed in favor of 3D nucleation. We exemplify this for two cases where epitaxial growth is performed at low supersaturation: vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires, and liquid phase epitaxy. First, we explain why certain axial nanowire heterostructures can be grown straight in both interface directions. Second, we explain the formation of multilayer heterostructures in liquid phase epitaxy. Finally, we discuss Stranski-Krastanov growth in a low supersaturation limit and show that there is a thermodynamically defined critical thickness, which increases with the chemical potential difference.</p>}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{1466-8033}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{48}},
  pages        = {{6671--6676}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{CrystEngComm}},
  title        = {{Heteroepitaxial growth modes revisited}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3ce00664f}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/d3ce00664f}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}