Shaping site-controlled uniform arrays of SiGe/Si(001) islands by in situ annealing

Abstract

We investigate the effect of in situ annealing on the shape, size, and chemical composition of ordered SiGe islands grown on pit-patterned Si(001) substrates. In contrast to planar substrates, intermixing with substrate material occurs symmetrically during annealing because the substrate patterning pins the island position and suppresses lateral motion. The results are consistent with surface-mediated intermixing and demonstrate that annealing is an effective method to tune the island properties with no appreciable deterioration of the ensemble homogeneity. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.