Molecular beam epitaxy of SrTiO3 on Si (001): Early stages of the growth and strain relaxation

Gang Niu (1) , Guillaume Saint-Girons (1) , Bertrand Vilquin (1) , Gabriel Delhaye (1) , Jean-Luc Maurice (2) , Claude Botella (1) , Yves Robach (1) , Guy Hollinger (1)

1 INL - H&N - INL - Hétéroepitaxie et Nanostructures
2 LPICM - Laboratoire de physique des interfaces et des couches minces [Palaiseau]

The molecular beam epitaxy of SrTiO3 (STO) layers on Si (001) is studied, focusing on the early stages of the growth and on the strain relaxation process. Evidence is given that even for optimized growth conditions, STO grows initially amorphous on silicon and recrystallizes, leading to the formation of an atomically abrupt heterointerface with silicon. Just after recrystallization, STO is partially strained. Further increase in its thickness leads to the onset of a progressive plastic relaxation mechanism. STO recovers its bulk lattice parameter for thicknesses of the order of 30 ML.

Mots clés: stress-strain relations; Elasticity and anelasticity; Cold working; work hardening; Molecular; atomic; Deformation; and chemical beam epitaxy; ion; plasticity; and creep; Other materials; and crystallization; tempering recovery; quenching; post-deformation annealing; annealing; Plasticity and superplasticity

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Gang Niu, Guillaume Saint-Girons, Bertrand Vilquin, Gabriel Delhaye, Jean-Luc Maurice, et al.. Molecular beam epitaxy of SrTiO3 on Si (001): Early stages of the growth and strain relaxation. Applied Physics Letters, 2009, 95 (6), pp.2902. ⟨10.1063/1.3193548⟩. ⟨hal-00663481⟩