STM and RHEED study of the Si(001)-c(8x8) surface

The Si(001) surface deoxidized by short annealing at T~925C in the ultrahigh vacuum molecular beam epitaxy chamber has been in situ investigated by high resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and reflected high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). RHEED patterns corresponding to (2x1) and (4x4) structures were observed during sample treatment. The (4x4) reconstruction arose at T<600C after annealing. The reconstruction was observed to be reversible: the (4x4) structure turned into the (2x1) one at T>600C, the (4x4) structure appeared again at recurring cooling. The c(8x8) reconstruction was revealed by STM at room temperature on the same samples. A fraction of the surface area covered by the c(8x8) structure decreased as the sample cooling rate was reduced. The (2x1) structure was observed on the surface free of the c(8x8) one. The c(8x8) structure has been evidenced to manifest itself as the (4x4) one in the RHEED patterns. A model of the c(8x8) structure formation has been built on the basis of the STM data. Origin of the high-order structure on the Si(001) surface and its connection with the epinucleation phenomenon are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figure

Ge quantum dot arrays grown by ultrahigh vacuum molecular beam epitaxy on the Si(001) surface: nucleation, morphology and CMOS compatibility

Issues of morphology, nucleation and growth of Ge cluster arrays deposited by ultrahigh vacuum molecular beam epitaxy on the Si(001) surface are considered. Difference in nucleation of quantum dots during Ge deposition at low (<600 deg C) and high (>600 deg. C) temperatures is studied by high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy. The atomic models of growth of both species of Ge huts---pyramids and wedges---are proposed. The growth cycle of Ge QD arrays at low temperatures is explored. A problem of lowering of the array formation temperature is discussed with the focus on CMOS compatibility of the entire process; a special attention is paid upon approaches to reduction of treatment temperature during the Si(001) surface pre-growth cleaning, which is at once a key and the highest-temperature phase of the Ge/Si(001) quantum dot dense array formation process. The temperature of the Si clean surface preparation, the final high-temperature step of which is, as a rule, carried out directly in the MBE chamber just before the structure deposition, determines the compatibility of formation process of Ge-QD-array based devices with the CMOS manufacturing cycle. Silicon surface hydrogenation at the final stage of its wet chemical etching during the preliminary cleaning is proposed as a possible way of efficient reduction of the Si wafer pre-growth annealing temperature.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figure

Combined gene expression and proteomic analysis of EGF induced apoptosis in A431 cells suggests multiple pathways trigger apoptosis

Published online: 28 July 2013A431 cells, derived from epidermoid carcinoma, overexpress the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and when treated with a high dose of EGF will undergo apoptosis. We exploited microarray and proteomics techniques and network prediction to study the regulatory mechanisms of EGF-induced apoptosis in A431 cells. We observed significant changes in gene expression in 162 genes, approximately evenly split between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes and identified 30 proteins from the proteomic data that had either pro or anti-apoptotic annotation. Our correlation analysis of gene expression and proteome modeled a number of distinct sub-networks that are associated with the onset of apoptosis, allowing us to identify specific pathways and components. These include components of the interferon signalling pathway, and down stream components, including cytokines and suppressors of cytokine signalling. A central component of almost all gene expression sub-networks identified was TP53, which is mutated in A431 cells, and was down regulated. This down regulation of TP53 appeared to be correlated with proteomic sub-networks of cytoskeletal or cell adhesion components that might induce apoptosis by triggering cytochrome C release. Of the only three genes also differentially expressed as proteins, only serpinb1 had a known association with apoptosis. We confirmed that up regulation and cleavage of serpinb1 into L-DNAaseII was correlated with the induction of apoptosis. It is unlikely that a single pathway, but more likely a combination of pathways is needed to trigger EGF induced apoptosis in A431cells.Ibrahim Alanazi, Esmaeil Ebrahimie, Peter Hoffmann, David L. Adelso