Is the elongation of Ge huts in the low-temperature regime governed by kinetics?
Contrary to pyramids and domes, elongated huts on a Si(001) substrate are commonly considered as kinetically limited structures. In this work, however, based on detailed scanning tunneling microscopy observations of Ge huts growing on Si(001) at temperatures below 550 degrees C and finite element analysis, the possibility of an equilibrium-driven elongation is raised, where hut-preceding pits are thought to lift the energetic degeneracy of {105} facets and cause elongation along energetically preferred directions.
Goldfarb
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I
Department of Solid Mechanics, Materials and Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel. ilang@eng.tau.ac.il
Banks-Sills
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L
Eliasi
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R