Tailoring the Indium island sizes on the Silicon surface by controlling the deposition rate. Interplay between the size selectivity due to the quantum confinement effect and kinetic factors

• Islands with predefined sizes can be obtained by variations of the deposition rate.
• It is shown that this follows directly from the general theory by Venables.
• A simple model yields In/Si island mean thickness and coverage from AES data.
• Indium island size selectivity observed at 77 K by STM can be observed at RT by AES.
• Interplay between the island growth energetics and kinetic factors is considered.

Indium films of the same thickness were grown on the Si(111) surfaces at radically different deposition rates and studied by AES. The deposition rates ratio was of the order of 1000:1. Calculations within the simple model used yield both island thickness and coverage from AES data. The ratios of the average island thicknesses obtained from the AES data are in agreement with the theoretical predictions. It is demonstrated that control of the deposition rate in the large range allows fabrication of islands with predefined average thickness. The thickness values obtained from our AES data were nearly the same as the “magic” values reported by Altfeder et al. (Physical Review Letters 92 (2004) 226404 [7]), where Indium island thickness selectivity was explained by the quantum confinement effect.