Si and Ge nanostructures epitaxy on a crystalline insulating LaAlO3(001) substrate

We present a comparative structural study of the growth of Si and Ge deposited by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on a c(2 × 2) reconstructed LaAlO3(001) substrate. Our findings are based on complementary experimental techniques such as in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). While the layers are amorphous and wet uniformly the substrate in a low deposition temperature range, above 500 °C both Si and Ge growths proceed in a Volmer–Weber (VW) mode leading to the formation of nanocrystals (NCs). The islands are found to be composed of pure Si and Ge and to have abrupt interfaces with the substrate.

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