title: Growth, structure and morphology of epitaxial Fe(0 0 1) films on GaAs(0 0 1)c(4 × 4).
abstract: We studied epitaxy, growth, structure and morphology of thin Fe(0 0 1) films on the As-rich GaAs(0 0 1)-c(4 × 4) surface, deposited by molecular beam epitaxy at growth temperatures between room temperature and 250° C. Electron and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques evidence epitaxial growth with Fe(0 0 1)[1 0 0] ∥ GaAs(0 0 1)[1 0 0]. The residual strain derived from the XRD results is consistent with recent stress measurements. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals an abrupt interface for room-temperature films and the formation of a ∼10 nm thick crystalline Fe-Ga-As intermediate layer at 250° C. The dependence of the surface morphology on growth temperature and annealing evidences a kinetic roughening of the Fe surface at growth temperatures of 100-200° C due to the presence of step-edge barriers.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Lasers and Optronics, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gusenbauer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stangl
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hesser
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koch