Abstract
The morphological stability of strained-layer semiconductors is analyzed for the case where strain relaxation occurs by formation of isolated, coherent islands. In the model, partial strain relaxation in the underlying strained-layer is taken into account. Using a mean-field approximation, the interaction energy is taken to be linearly proportional to the strain energy in the film. The model predicts that the critical thickness for island formation depends inversely on the square of the misfit. The predicted dependence of critical thickness on the misfit is in quantitative agreement with recent experimental studies on island nucleation for heteroepitaxial III-V compounds.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1056-1058 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1997 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering