Evolution of the intermixing process in Ge/Si(111) self-assembled islands

In this contribution we present a study of the Ge–Si intermixing process that arises during the growth of Ge/Si(111) self-assembled islands. The samples, grown by means of a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-like technique, have been characterized by in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) complemented by ex-situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). We have observed by STM a change in the island morphological evolution, from truncated tetrahedra to atoll-like islands, that can be related to the misfit the reduction effect induced by the intermixing process. We have evaluated the intermixing by measuring the average coordination numbers of Si and Ge around a Ge atom by XAFS. We show that the Si content in the nominally pure Ge wetting layer reaches 50% while in the three-dimensional (3-D) islands it is about 25%, and that the intermixing increases with increasing deposition temperature in the 450–530 °C range.