Abstract

The formation of thin films by the direct deposition of ions from a low-energy ion beam (ion beam deposition or IBD) has been shown to be an effective technique for promoting the epitaxial growth of elemental semiconductors at low temperatures.(1-3) It has also been used to produce layers of stoichiometric oxides and silicides by deposition of a single element at temperatures lower than those required for thermal formation of the same compounds.(4,5) IBD, with a mass- and energy-analyzed ion beam, has many advantages for thin film fabrication. It provides high purity, isotopic selectivity, control of the dose rate, sub-monolayer control of the dose, and control of the incident ion energy and the resultant effect on the chemistry and crystal structure of the film. In this work the IBD concept is extended significantly by the deposition of multiple elements onto a single substrate to produce heteroepitaxial growth of a III-V semiconductor, GaAs, on elemental single crystal substrates, Si and Ge.

© 1989 Optical Society of America