title: Unique features of laterally aligned GeSi nanowires self-assembled on the vicinal Si (001) surface misoriented toward the [100] direction.
abstract: We demonstrate laterally aligned and catalyst-free GeSi nanowires (NWs) via self-assembly of Ge on miscut Si (001) substrates toward the [100] direction by an angle θ (θ < 11°). The NWs are bordered by (001) and (105) facets, which are thermodynamically stable. By tuning the miscut angle θ, the NW height can be easily modulated with a nearly constant width. The thickness of the wetting layer beneath the NWs also shows a peculiar behavior with a minimum at around 6°. An analytical model, considering the variation of both the surface energy and the strain energy of the epilayer on vicinal surfaces with the miscut angle and layer thickness, shows good overall agreement with the experimental results. It discloses that both the surface energy and stain energy of the epilayer on vicinal surfaces can be considerably affected in the same trend by the surface steps. Our results not only shed new light on the growth mechanism during heteroepitaxial growth, but also pave a prominent way to fabricate and meanwhile modulate laterally aligned and dislocation-free NWs.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. zhenyangz@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vastola
authors.forename: Yong-Wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Yongliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Zhenyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhong