Morphological Evolution of Strained Films by Cooperative Nucleation
- 12 August 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 77 (7), 1330-1333
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.1330
Abstract
We identify a new mechanism of stress driven surface morphological evolution in strained semiconductor films. Surface roughness forms by a cooperative mechanism involving the sequential nucleation of islands and pits, which is distinct from the conventional view of ripple formation as an Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld (ATG) instability. This mechanism is operative both during annealing and growth and competes with the ATG instability as a kinetic pathway to ripple formation.Keywords
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