Breaking elastic field symmetry with substrate vicinality

We present a novel approach to engineer the growth of strained epitaxial films based on tailoring the elastic-interaction potential between nanostructures with substrate vicinality. By modeling the island-island interaction energy surface within continuum elasticity theory, we find that its fourfold...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2011-02, Vol.106 (5), p.055503-055503, Article 055503
Main Authors: Persichetti, L, Sgarlata, A, Fanfoni, M, Balzarotti, A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We present a novel approach to engineer the growth of strained epitaxial films based on tailoring the elastic-interaction potential between nanostructures with substrate vicinality. By modeling the island-island interaction energy surface within continuum elasticity theory, we find that its fourfold symmetry is broken at high miscuts, producing directions of reduced elastic-interaction energy. As a consequence, it is possible to direct the Ge island growth on highly misoriented Si(001) substrates towards desired pathways.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.055503