Morphology and composition of Au catalysts on Ge(111) obtained by thermal dewetting

We investigate the chemical and morphological structure of the Au nanodots on Ge(111) which serve as catalysts for the formation of epitaxial Ge nanowires. The spatial localization of Au is investigated by X-ray spectromicroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We show that dewetting of an Au...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2011-09, Vol.84 (12), Article 125325
Main Authors: Hajjar, S., Garreau, G., Josien, L., Bubendorff, J. L., Berling, D., Mehdaoui, A., Pirri, C., Maroutian, T., Renard, C., Bouchier, D., Petit, M., Spiesser, A., Dau, M. T., Michez, L., Le Thanh, V., Mentes, T. O., Nino, M. A., Locatelli, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Materials Science
Physics
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Summary:We investigate the chemical and morphological structure of the Au nanodots on Ge(111) which serve as catalysts for the formation of epitaxial Ge nanowires. The spatial localization of Au is investigated by X-ray spectromicroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We show that dewetting of an Au film on Ge(111) gives rise to a thin Au-Ge wetting layer and Au-Ge dots. These dots are crystallized but not with a single crystallographic orientation. Thanks to the spatially resolved X-ray and transmission electron microscopy measurements, a chemical characterization of both binary Au-Ge catalysts and wetting layer is obtained at the nanoscale. We show that Ge vertical growth is achieved even without external Ge supply.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.84.125325