Effects of carbon coverage on Ge quantum dots formation on Si(100) using C-Si reaction and transition of Ge growth mode

Effects of carbon (C) coverage on C-mediated Ge quantum dots (QDs) formation on a Si(100) substrate changing a state of surface reconstruction were investigated by using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. For C=0–2.0 monolayers (MLs), the Ge QD scaled down and its density increased with C coverage. In addition, growth mode of Ge QDs changed from Volmer-Weber (VW) mode without a wetting layer to Stranski-Krastanov (SK) mode with the wetting layer for C=0.50–0.75 ML. This transition was induced by decrease in interfacial energy between Ge and Si surface due to the formation of C-Ge bonds near the Ge/Si interface. For C≥2.5 MLs, the Ge QD enlarged slightly and its density decreased with increasing C coverage, and he Ge growth mode went back to the VW mode. The Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the formation of a mixture of amorphous C and nano-crystalline graphite on the Si surface. Thus, the formation of a large amount of C–C (sp²) bonds induced the growth transition of QDs from the SK mode to the VW mode due to the decrease in surface energy of C.