Controlling Nucleation and Crystal Growth of Ge in a Liquid Metal Solvent

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• 作者：Joshua DeMuth ; Eli Fahrenkrug ; Stephen Maldonado
• 刊名：Crystal Growth & Design
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：December 7, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：16
• 期：12
• 页码：7130-7138
• 全文大小：495K
• ISSN：1528-7505

文摘

The electrochemical liquid–liquid–solid (ec-LLS) deposition of crystalline germanium (Ge) in a eutectic mixture of liquid gallium (Ga) and indium (In) was analyzed as a function of liquid metal thickness, process temperature, and flux. Through control of reaction parameters, conditions were identified that allow selective nucleation and growth of crystalline Ge at the interface between e-GaIn and a crystalline Si substrate. The crystal growth rates of Ge by ec-LLS as a function of process temperatures were obtained from time-dependent powder X-ray diffraction measurements of crystalline Ge. The driving force, Δμ, for crystal formation in ec-LLS was estimated through analyses of the experimental data in conjunction with predictions from a finite-difference model. The required Δμ for Ge nucleation was tantamount to a supersaturation approximately 10p>2p> larger than the equilibrium concentration of Ge in e-GaIn at the investigated temperatures. These points are discussed both in the context of advancing new, low-temperature synthetic methodologies for crystalline semiconductor films and on understanding semiconductor crystal growth more deeply.