Growth Conditions and Interfacial Misfit Array in SnTe (111) Films Grown on InP (111) A Substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Tin telluride (SnTe) is an IV–VI semiconductor with a topological crystalline insulator band structure, high thermoelectric performance, and in-plane ferroelectricity. Despite its many applications, there has been little work focused on understanding the growth mechanisms of SnTe thin films. In this manuscript, we investigate the molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of SnTe (111) thin films on InP (111)A substrates. We explore the effect of substrate temperature, Te/Sn flux ratio, and growth rate on the film quality. Using a substrate temperature of 340 °C, a Te/Sn flux ratio of 3, and a growth rate of 0.48 Å/s, fully coalesced and single crystalline SnTe (111) epitaxial layers with X-ray rocking curve full-width-at-half-maxima of 0.09° and root-mean-square surface roughness as low as 0.2 nm have been obtained. Despite the 7.5% lattice mismatch between the SnTe (111) film and the InP (111)A substrate, reciprocal space mapping indicates that the 15 nm SnTe layer is fully relaxed. We show that a periodic interfacial misfit (IMF) dislocation array forms at the SnTe/InP heterointerface, where each IMF dislocation is separated by 14 InP lattice sites/13 SnTe lattice sites, providing rapid strain relaxation and yielding the high quality SnTe layer. This is the first report of an IMF array forming in a rock-salt on zinc-blende material system and at an IV–VI on III–V heterointerface, and highlights the potential for SnTe as a buffer layer for epitaxial telluride film growth. This work represents an important milestone in enabling the heterointegration between IV–VI and III–V semiconductors to create multifunctional devices.

Files

Metadata

Work Title Growth Conditions and Interfacial Misfit Array in SnTe (111) Films Grown on InP (111) A Substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Qihua Zhang
  2. Maria Hilse
  3. Wesley Auker
  4. Jennifer Gray
  5. Stephanie Law
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Publication Date August 28, 2024
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c10296
Related URLs
Deposited November 25, 2024

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Updated
  • Added Creator Qihua Zhang
  • Added Creator Maria Hilse
  • Added Creator Wesley Auker
  • Added Creator Jennifer Gray
  • Added Creator Stephanie Law
  • Updated Work Title, Publisher, Publisher Identifier (DOI), and 2 more Show Changes
    Work Title
    • Growth conditions and interfacial misfit array in SnTe (111) films grown on InP (111)A substrates by molecular beam epitaxy
    • Growth Conditions and Interfacial Misfit Array in SnTe (111) Films Grown on InP (111) A Substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
    Publisher
    • ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c10296
    Related URLs
    • https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.15248
    Publication Date
    • 2024-08-28
  • Updated
  • Updated Description Show Changes
    Description
    • Tin telluride (SnTe) is an IV–VI semiconductor with a topological crystalline insulator band structure, high thermoelectric performance, and in-plane ferroelectricity. Despite its many applications, there has been little work focused on understanding the growth mechanisms of SnTe thin films. In this manuscript, we investigate the molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of SnTe (111) thin films on InP (111)A substrates. We explore the effect of substrate temperature, Te/Sn flux ratio, and growth rate on the film quality. Using a substrate temperature of 340 °C, a Te/Sn flux ratio of 3, and a growth rate of 0.48 Å/s, fully coalesced and single crystalline SnTe (111) epitaxial layers with X-ray rocking curve full-width-at-half-maxima of 0.09° and root-mean-square surface roughness as low as 0.2 nm have been obtained. Despite the 7.5% lattice mismatch between the SnTe (111) film and the InP (111)A substrate, reciprocal space mapping indicates that the 15 nm SnTe layer is fully relaxed. We show that a periodic interfacial misfit (IMF) dislocation array forms at the SnTe/InP heterointerface, where each IMF dislocation is separated by 14 InP lattice sites/13 SnTe lattice sites, providing rapid strain relaxation and yielding the high quality SnTe layer. This is the first report of an IMF array forming in a rock-salt on zinc-blende material system and at an IV–VI on III–V heterointerface, and highlights the potential for SnTe as a buffer layer for epitaxial telluride film growth. This work represents an important milestone in enabling the heterointegration between IV–VI and III–V semiconductors to create multifunctional devices.
  • Updated Creator Qihua Zhang
  • Updated Creator Maria Hilse
  • Updated Creator Wesley Auker
  • Updated Creator Jennifer Gray
  • Updated Creator Stephanie Law
  • Added main_SI.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
  • Published
  • Updated