Effect of phosphorus on Ge/Si(001) island formation

When Ge is deposited epitaxially on Si, the strain energy from the lattice mismatch causes the Ge in layers thicker than about four monolayers to form distinctive, three-dimensional islands. The shape of the islands is determined by the energies of the surface facets, facet edges, and interfaces. When phosphorus is added during the deposition, the surface energies change, modifying the island shapes and sizes, as well as the deposition process. When phosphine is introduced to the germane/hydrogen ambient during Ge deposition, the deposition rate decreases because of competitive, adsorption. The steady-state deposition rate is not reached for thin layers. The deposited, doped layers contain three different island shapes, as do undoped layers; however, the island size for each shape is smaller for the doped layers than for the corresponding undoped layers. The intermediate-size islands are the most significant; the intermediate-size doped islands are of the same family as the undoped, multifaceted "dome" structures, but are considerably smaller. The largest doped islands appear to be related to the defective "superdomes" discussed for undoped islands. The distribution between the different island shapes depends on the phosphine partial pressure. At higher partial pressures, the smaller structures are absent. Phosphorus appears to act as a mild surfactant, suppressing small islands.