Self-assembled Si0.80Ge0.20 nanoripples on Si(1 1 10) substrates

Si0.8Ge0.2 heteroepitaxy on vicinal Si(1 1 10) substrates leads to the formation of a nanoscale ripple morphology. Atomic force microscopy, and grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering reveal that these SiGe structures are essentially prisms of triangular cross section bounded by two adjacent {105} facets. Transmission electron microscopy shows the existence of a wetting layer. X-ray diffraction in combination with finite element simulations was performed to extract strain distribution maps. The stabilization of the prism structure is attributed to the strain-dependence of the {105} surface energy.

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