Three-Dimensional Model of Heteroepitaxial Growth of Germanium on Silicon
S. A. Rudin1, V. A. Zinov’ev1, A. V. Nenashev1,2, A. Yu. Polyakov1, Zh. V. Smagina1, A. V. Dvurechenskii1,2
1Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Lavrent’eva 13, Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia
2Novosibirsk State University, ul. Pirogova 2, Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia
Keywords: silicon, germanium, nanostructures, heteroepitaxy, Monte Carlo simulation
Abstract
A new method of incorporating the elastic strain into the atomistic simulation of heteroepitaxial growth is proposed. The idea of this method is to include random displacements (thermal oscillations) of atoms within the lattice site into the calculation algorithm in addition to elementary events that change the atomic configuration (deposition of new atoms and jumps of atoms from one crystal lattice site to another). It appears to be possible to assign probabilities of elementary events in order to guarantee minimization of the free energy of the unperturbed system. The simulation based on this method reproduces the main heteroepitaxial growth effects, such as the formation of threedimensional islands on the strained wetting layer (Stranski–Krastanov growth mode) and the vertical alignment of nanoislands in the course of growth of multilayer heterostructures.
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