Growth process and nanostructure of crystalline GaAs on Si(1Â 1Â 0) surface prepared by molecular beam epitaxy

Growth process of crystalline GaAs on Si(1 1 0) surface kept at 773 K and the nanostructural analysis of the interface have been studied by a combination of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. The Si(1 1 0) facetted surface along the 〈0 0 1〉 direction consists of vicinal surfaces inclined ±2° from the 〈1 1 0〉 direction. In earlier stage of the growth up to the coverage of 12 ML, the vicinal facetted surface is filled from the bottom terraces by GaAs layers and consequently a flat surface is constructed. With increasing layer thickness of GaAs, stacking faults and the subsequent deformation twins are introduced to relax the lattice strain accumulated in the layer by themselves.