SURFACTANT-MEDIATED CRYSTAL-GROWTH OF SEMICONDUCTORS

The influence of surfactants on semiconductor thin film growth is studied by means of a mesoscopic model combined with first principles calculations. We introduce a new kinetic mechanism that explains how surfactants induce layer-by-layer growth. The experimentally observed high density of 2D islands is a natural consequence of the chemical passivation of step edges, as well as flat surfaces, by the surfactant. In heteroepitaxial growth, we take strain effects into account, which leads to layer-by-layer growth at low temperatures and three-dimensional growth at high temperatures, in agreement with experiments.