Abstract

This talk purports to be a review of the basic concepts of epitaxial growth with a special emphasis on those aspects relevant to the growth of superlattices and multilayers. But the listener is warned that this subject is almost entirely terra incognita from the theoretical point of view when the material pairs differ significantly from one another. Nonetheless, talking points for the presentation include: diffusion on perfect and imperfect surfaces, the role of steps, chemical versus size effects, compound formation, template effects, sources of interface roughening, and kinetic energy effects.

© 1994 Optical Society of America