Liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Ge island on insulator using Ni-imprint-induced Si crystal as seed

Liquid-phase epitaxial growth (LPE) of Ge islands on insulator (GOI) using Ni-imprint-induced Si (111) crystal seeds (~ 1 μmϕ) is investigated. By optimizing cap and bottom SiO2 layer thickness, single-crystalline GOI (111) structures (~ 10 μmϕ) are realized. The Raman peaks due to Ge–Ge bonds of the growth regions reveal that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is equal to that of single-crystalline Ge bulk wafers (3.2 cm− 1). This result demonstrates the very high crystal quality of the growth regions.