Surface Debye Temperature Measurement with Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction

Measurement of the surface mean-square atomic vibrational amplitude, or equivalently the surface Debye temperature, with reflection high-energy electron diffraction is discussed. Low-index surfaces of lead are used as examples. Particular details are given about the temperature-dependent diffraction pattern of Pb(100) in the Debye-Waller region. The use of reflection high-energy electron diffraction for measurement of the substrate surface temperature in thin-film deposition chambers is suggested. © 1996 American Institute of Physics

Reflection High-Energy Electron-Diffraction Study of Surface Disorder and Anomalous Expansion of Pb(100)

The temperature-dependent surface structural behavior of Pb(100) is studied using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Anomalous surface expansion for temperatures between room temperature to about 500 K is observed. A high density of surface vacancies appears at temperatures above ~ 500 K. © 1994 The American Physical Society

Temperature Dependence of Step Density on Vicinal Pb(111)

The temperature dependence of step density on the vicinal Pb(111) surface is investigated using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. When the temperature is increased from 323 to 590 K. the average terrace width and the average string length at the step edge decrease from 85±25 to 37±16 Å and from 220±33 to 25±8 Å, respectively. Thermal step collapse on the Pb(111) surface near its bulk melting temperature is not observed. Above 530±7 K, the change in the string length at the step edge with temperature becomes small, and the intensity of the (00) beam is significantly decreased. We conclude that partial step melting at the step edge occurs at the surface above 530±7 K

Time-Resolved Structural Study of Low-Index Surfaces of Germanium Near Its Bulk Melting Temperature

The structure of the low-index surfaces of germanium near its bulk melting temperature is investigated using 100-ps time-resolved reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The surface is heated by 100-ps laser pulses while a synchronized electron beam probes the structure. Ge(111)was observed to remain in its incomplete melting structure up to at least Tm + 134 ± 40 K when heated by a 100-ps laser pulse. Both the Ge(100) and Ge(110) surfaces are observed to melt near the bulk melting temperature when heated with 100-ps laser pulses. Because of the low-diffraction intensity-to-background ratio at high temperatures and because of the temperature uncertainty in the time-resolved experiments, we are unable to accurately identify the melting point of Ge(100) and Ge(110) when heated with a 100-ps laser pulse. The results, however, favor the lack of surface superheating of Ge(100) and, to some extent, Ge(110). The superheating of the incomplete melting state of Ge(111) could be due to the metallization of the top germanium bilayer and its interaction with the solid underneath causing an energy barrier sufficient to allow for transient surface superheating

Nonthermal Laser-Induced Formation of Crystalline Ge Quantum Dots on Si(100)

The effects of laser-induced electronic excitations on the self-assembly of Ge quantum dots on Si (100) - (2×1) grown by pulsed laser deposition are studied. Electronic excitations due to laser irradiation of the Si substrate and the Ge film during growth are shown to decrease the roughness of films grown at a substrate temperature of ∼120 °C. At this temperature, the grown films are nonepitaxial. Electronic excitation results in the formation of an epitaxial wetting layer and crystalline Ge quantum dots at ∼260 °C, a temperature at which no crystalline quantum dots form without excitation under the same deposition conditions.© 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3041493

Melting and Solidification Study of As-Deposited and Recrystallized Bi Thin Films

Melting and solidification of as-deposited and recrystallized Bi crystallites, deposited on highly oriented 002-graphite at 423 K, were studied using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Films with mean thickness between 1.5 and 33 ML (monolayers) were studied. Ex situ atomic force microscopy was used to study the morphology and the size distribution of the formed nanocrystals. The as-deposited films grew in the form of three-dimensional crystallites with different shapes and sizes, while those recrystallized from the melt were formed in nearly similar shapes but different sizes. The change in the RHEED pattern with temperature was used to probe the melting and solidification of the crystallites. Melting started at temperatures below the bulk melting point of Bi, T0=544.5 K, and extended over a temperature range that depended on the size distribution of the crystallites. The as-deposited 1.5 ML film started to melt at T0-50 K and melted completely at T0-20 K. For films with higher coverage, the size distribution was observed to spread over a wider range with a larger mean value, resulting in a shift in the melting temperature range towards higher temperatures. Due to the shift in size distribution to higher values upon recrystallization, the recrystallized Bi crystallites showed a melting temperature range higher than that of the as-deposited crystallites. For the investigated conditions, all films were completely melted below or at T 0 of Bi. The characteristic film melting point, defined as the temperature at which the film melting rate with temperature is the fastest, showed a linear dependence on the reciprocal of the average crystallite radius, consistent with theoretical models. Of these models, the surface-phonon instability model best fits the obtained results. During solidification, the Bi films showed high amount of supercooling relative to T0 of Bi. The amount of liquid supercooling was found to decrease linearly with the reciprocal of the average crystallite size. © 2006 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2208551

Activation Energy of Surface Diffusion and Terrace Width Dynamics During the Growth of in (4×3) on Si (100) - (2×1) by Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition

The nucleation and growth of indium on a vicinal Si (100) - (2×1) surface at high temperature by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition was investigated by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). RHEED intensity relaxation was observed for the first ∼2 ML during the growth of In (4×3) by step flow. From the temperature dependence of the rate of relaxation, an activation energy of 1.4±0.2 eV of surface diffusion was determined. The results indicate that indium small clusters diffused to terrace step edges with a diffusion frequency constant of (1.0±0.1) × 1011 s-1. The RHEED specular beam split peak spacing, which is characteristic of a vicinal surface, was analyzed with the growth temperature to obtain the average terrace width. Gradual reduction in the terrace width during growth of In (4×3) was observed with In coverage and is attributed to the detachment of In atoms from terrace edges. At a substrate temperature of 405 °C, the average terrace width decreased from 61±10 Å, which corresponds to the vicinal Si(100) surface, to an equilibrium value of 45±7 Å after deposition of ∼23 ML. Further In coverage showed a transition of the RHEED pattern from (4×3) to (1×1) and the growth of rounded In islands (average height of ∼1 nm and width of ∼25 nm), as examined by ex situ atomic force microscopy. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2909923

Condensation on (002) Graphite of Liquid Bismuth Far Below Its Bulk Melting Point

Condensation of thermally evaporated Bi on (002) graphite, at temperatures of 300-523K, was studied using in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and room temperature ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). For deposition at temperatures below 415±5K, transmission RHEED patterns of Bi appeared at an average thickness of ∼0.5 monolayer (ML). AFM images showed that the film consisted of crystallites in the shape of triangular step pyramids with step heights corresponding to single and double Bi layers in the [111] direction. This morphology indicates crystallization from the vapor. For deposition at higher temperatures, diffuse RHEED patterns appeared independent of the deposited thickness. When these films were cooled, clear transmission patterns of crystalline Bi appeared. After cooling to near room temperature, the melting and solidification behaviors of these films were investigated with RHEED. Upon subsequent heating, the topmost layers of the probed Bi crystallites started to lose long-range order at ∼10-15K below the Bi bulk melting point, T0=544.52K. When crystallized from the melt, supercooling by ∼125K below T0 was observed. These results indicate that Bi condensed on graphite in the form of supercooled liquid droplets when the graphite temperature was above 419K (T0-125). Below that temperature, Bi condensed in the solid phase. Bi films crystallized by cooling the liquid had crystal morphologies that depended on the degree of liquid supercooling. © 2005 The American Physical Society

Atomic Hydrogen Cleaning of InP(100): Electron Yield and Surface Morphology of Negative Electron Affinity Activated Surfaces

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of the InP(100) surface has been investigated using quantitative reflection high-energy electron diffraction. The quantum efficiency of the surface when activated to negative electron affinity was correlated with surface morphology. The electron diffraction patterns showed that hydrogen cleaning is effective in removing surface contaminants, leaving a clean, ordered, and (2×4)-reconstructed surface. After activation to negative electron affinity, a quantum efficiency of ∼6% was produced in response to photoactivation at 632 nm. Secondary electron emission from the hydrogen-cleaned InP(100)-(2×4) surface was measured and correlated to the quantum efficiency. The morphology of the vicinal InP(100) surface was investigated using electron diffraction. The average terrace width and adatom-vacancy density were measured from the (00) specular beam at the out-of-phase condition. With hydrogen cleaning time, there was some reduction in the average terrace width. The surface quality was improved with hydrogen cleaning, as indicated by the increased (00) spot intensity-to-background ratio at the out-of-phase condition, and improved quantum efficiency after activation to negative electron affinity. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1429796

Reflection High-Energy Electron-Diffraction Study of Melting and Solidification of Pb on Graphite

The melting and solidification of Pb thin films on pyrolytic graphite are investigated in situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Thin films with thicknesses of 4-150 monolayers are investigated. The surface morphology of the thin films were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Superheating of the Pb thin films by 4±2 to 12±2 K is observed from diffraction intensity measurements. Upon cooling the substrate, the Pb on graphite is seen to supercool by ∼69±4 K