Island formation in Ge/Si epitaxy

We review current understanding of the island formation process, and outline some of the remaining problems. The initial island formation is coherent, with islands stabilised by the elastic relaxation associated with deformation of the substrate. We use finite element analysis to demonstrate the degree of relaxation associated with these deformations. The islands then relax further by introduction of dislocations. The first dislocations introduced in the large coherent islands are shown to be inclined burgers vectors (about 60°) adopting a nearly semicircular path around the island perimeter. The outstanding anomaly in Ge/Si growth is the temperature dependence of islanding, with slower relaxation rates and greater metastability associated with higher temperatures. We describe various possible explanations for this problem.