Growth of Ge on H-terminated Si(111) surface

Abstract The growth of Ge on the H-terminated Si(111) surface was investigated using UHV scanning tunneling microscopy. Hydrogen termination was treated with 1% HF and germanium was deposited at room temperature. After the deposition, these samples were annealed at 400, 500 and 600°C, respectively. At 400°C, hydrogen atoms prevented germanium from diffusing on the surface, resulting in the formation of a lot of small two-dimensional islands. For samples annealed at 600°C, the critical thickness increased more than that of the growth on the clean Si surface.