A one-dimensional model for the growth of CdTe quantum dots on Si substrates

Recent experiments involving CdTe films grown on Si(111) substrates by hot wall epitaxy revealed features not previously observed [S.O. Ferreira, et al., J. Appl. Phys. 93 (2003) 1195]. This system, which follows the Volmer-Weber growth mode with nucleation of isolated 3D islands for less than one monolayer of evaporated material, was described by a peculiar behavior of the quantum dot (QD) size distributions. In this work, we proposed a kinetic deposition model to reproduce these new features. The model, which includes thermally activated diffusion and evaporation of CdTe, qualitatively reproduced the experimental QD size distributions. Moreover, the model predicts a transition from Stranski-Krastanow growth mode at lower temperatures to Volmer-Weber growth mode at higher ones characterized through the QD width distributions.