Step structure and surface morphology of hydrogen-terminated silicon: (001) to (114)

GaP-nucleation on exact Si (001) substrates for III/V device integration

“…Our results of annealing in N 2 atmosphere agree well with literature, which states that under H 2 -free MBE-environment [22][23][24][25][26] double-step formation on exact Si is impossible. However, the observed trend towards double step formation on exact Si (0 0 1) surfaces upon annealing in H 2 atmosphere is in contrast to the findings for Si surfaces prepared in an MBE environment in H 2 atmosphere [23] as well as to theoretical considerations [18]. At this point one can only speculate about the driving force for the preferred double step formation on exact Si (0 0 1) under VPE conditions.…”

“…The latter show a (1 Â 2) reconstruction with the Si-dimer direction on the terrace parallel to the step edges. For Si (0 0 1) samples misoriented towards one /1 1 0S direction it has also been shown [23] that double D B steps become increasingly more stable with increase in miscut angle, resulting in a Si surface, which is covered by doublelayer high steps. These steps are rebonded and the Si-dimer direction is parallel to the step-edge.…”

“…In the vapour phase epitaxial growth environment used for the present study, Si surfaces are expected to be covered with hydrogen. It was demonstrated that S A and S B steps are also stable on the exact (0 0 1) Si-monohydride surface [22,23]. On such a surface, the region where both S A and S B steps together with D B step are stable is expanded to larger miscut angles compared to the clean Si surface.…”

Indirect in situ characterization of Si(100) substrates at the initial stage of III–V heteroepitaxy

“…Although the influence of atomic hydrogen adsorption is also considered in detail [14], the use of hydrogen as typical carrier gas in VPE environments leads to unexpected results: Kunert et al [2] reported a VPE preparation route inducing a preference for double-layer steps only for 0.11 misoriented Si(1 0 0) if tilted in a specific direction. Based on their routine, we obtained different atomic surface structures as shown in Fig.…”

Hydrogen termination following Cu deposition on Si(001)

“…After H exposure, each sample was annealed again in UHV for 10 min at 615 K. On clean surfaces etching is not observed under these conditions. 20 All STM images were collected at room temperature starting ϳ1 h after preparing the surface. All results shown are filled-state, gray-scale images collected at 2 -3 V with constant currents of 0.1-1 nA.…”