Crystalline morphologies of step-graded SiGe layers grown on exact and vicinal (1 1 0) Si substrates

The implication of the surface inclination for the crystalline and surface morphologies of SiGe films grown on Si(1 1 0) substrates was investigated. Compositionally step-graded SiGe films were grown on an exact substrate and on a vicinal substrate by using gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. By comparing the reciprocal space maps (RSM) and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) images, the implications of microtwin formation for the surface morphology and for the crystal lattice structure were also investigated.