Step bunching of vicinal GaN(0001) surfaces during molecular beam epitaxy

Unification of step bunching phenomena on vicinal surfaces

Pak-Wing Fok,1 Rodolfo R. Rosales,2 and Dionisios Margetis3 1Applied and Computational Mathematics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA 2Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA 3Department of Mathematics and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 2...

Surface Morphology of GaN Surfaces during Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The reconstruction and surface morphology of gallium nitride (0001) and (000 ) surfaces are studied using scanning probe microscopy and reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Results for bare GaN surfaces are summarized, and changes in the surface structure and morphology due to co-deposition of indium or magnesium during growth are discussed.

Dynamics of step bunching in heteroepitaxial growth on vicinal substrates.

When a heteroepitaxial film is grown on a vicinal substrate, the terrace steps at the growth front may bunch together to relieve strain, resulting in a rough surface. On the other hand, proper manipulation of the growth kinetics may suppress the inherent bunching instability, thus preserving step-flow growth. Here we show that the step dynamics in the early stages of growth can already determin...

Step Patterns on Vicinal Reconstructed Surfaces

Step patterns on vicinal (2× 1) reconstructed surfaces of noble metals Au(110) and Pt(110), miscut towards the (100) orientation, are investigated. The free energy of the reconstructed surface with a network of crossing opposite steps is calculated in the strong chirality regime when the steps cannot make overhangs. It is explained why the steps are not perpendicular to the direction of the mis...

Reduction of threading defects in GaN grown on vicinal SiC„0001... by molecular-beam epitaxy