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Investigation of lead surface segregation during germanium–lead epitaxial growth

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Abstract

Crystalline germanium–lead (GePb) alloys were deposited on Ge(100) substrates via magnetron sputtering epitaxy. Strip-shaped Pb segregation along the <110> direction was observed on the Ge0.976Pb0.024 film surface, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The chemical compositions and structural properties of the strip-shaped segregation were investigated by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and micro-Raman scattering spectra. The Ge0.976Pb0.024 film remained high crystal quality even after Pb segregation. The strip-shaped segregation was mainly composed of polycrystalline Pb, and its surface was covered with a GePb nanocrystalline layer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB2200500), the National Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 61774143, 61604146) and Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDY-SSW-JSC022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangquan Liu, Jun Zheng, Xiuli Li, Chaoqun Niu, Linzhi Peng, Fengshuo Wan, Zhi Liu, Yuhua Zuo, Chunlai Xue & Buwen Cheng

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Xiangquan Liu, Jun Zheng, Xiuli Li, Chaoqun Niu, Linzhi Peng, Fengshuo Wan, Zhi Liu, Yuhua Zuo, Chunlai Xue & Buwen Cheng

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  1. Xiangquan Liu
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  2. Jun Zheng
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Correspondence to Jun Zheng.

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Liu, X., Zheng, J., Li, X. et al. Investigation of lead surface segregation during germanium–lead epitaxial growth. J Mater Sci 55, 4762–4768 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-04334-6

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