title: Polarity inversion in polar-nonpolar-polar heterostructures.
abstract: We have observed an epilayer-thickness-dependent polarity inversion for the growth of CdTe on Sb(Bi)/CdTe(111)B. For films with Sb(Bi) thicknesses of less than 40 A (15 A), the CdTe layer shows a B (Te-terminated) face, but it switches to an A (Cd-terminated) face for thicker layers. On the other hand, a CdTe layer grown on Bi(Sb)/CdTe(111)A always shows the A face regardless of Sb or Bi layer thicknesses. In order to address the observations we have performed ab initio calculations, which suggest that the polarity of a polar material on a nonpolar one results from the binding energy difference between the two possible surface configurations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, 680-749, South Korea.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DiVenere
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ketterson