摘要
Anisotropic evolution of the step edges on the compressive-strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs（001） surface has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy （STM）. The experiments suggest that step edges are indeed sinuous and protrude somewhere a little way along the [110] direction, which is different from the classical waviness predicted by the theoretical model. We consider that the monatomic step edges undergo a morphological instability induced by the anisotropic diffusion of adatoms on the terrace during annealing, and we improve a kinetic model of step edge based on the classical Burton Cabrer-Frank （BCF） model in order to determine the normal velocity of step enlargement. The results show that the normal velocity is proportional to the arc length of the peninsula, which is consistent with the first result of our kinetic model. Additionally, a significant phenomenon is an excess elongation along the [110] direction at the top of the peninsula with a higher aspect ratio, which is attributed to the restriction of diffusion lengths.
Anisotropic evolution of the step edges on the compressive-strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs（001） surface has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy （STM）. The experiments suggest that step edges are indeed sinuous and protrude somewhere a little way along the [110] direction, which is different from the classical waviness predicted by the theoretical model. We consider that the monatomic step edges undergo a morphological instability induced by the anisotropic diffusion of adatoms on the terrace during annealing, and we improve a kinetic model of step edge based on the classical Burton Cabrer-Frank （BCF） model in order to determine the normal velocity of step enlargement. The results show that the normal velocity is proportional to the arc length of the peninsula, which is consistent with the first result of our kinetic model. Additionally, a significant phenomenon is an excess elongation along the [110] direction at the top of the peninsula with a higher aspect ratio, which is attributed to the restriction of diffusion lengths.
基金
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant No. 60866001）, the Special Project for Senior Researcher of Guizhou Organization Department （Grnat No. TZJF 2006.10）, Doctor Foundation of Guizhou University, the Innovation Fund of Guizhou University （Grant No. 2011008）, the Science and Technological Project for Scholar Abroad, Guizhou Province （Grant No. [2007]03）, and the Guizhou Science and Technology Foundation （Grant No. J[200712176）.
