This article is cited in 12 papers

Surface physics, thin films

Stability of the surface of an elastically strained multicomponent film in a system with chemical reactions

A. V. Redkov^ab, A. V. Osipov^abc, S. A. Kukushkin<sup>abcd

a</sup> Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg
^b St. Petersburg Academic University — Nanotechnology Research and Education Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the Academic University)
^c St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
^d Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University

Abstract: The morphological stability of a flat elastically strained multicomponent film, the growth of which is controlled by the boundary kinetics, has been considered. It has been shown that the instability can be caused by fluctuations of mechanical stresses in the film, which affect the lifetime of adsorbents on the film surface. A stability criterion that relates the affinity of a chemical reaction on the surface to the stress in the film has been found. The growth of the GaN films on sapphire has been analyzed based on the obtained results. The influence of the flux ratio of Group III/V components on the morphology of the film has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that, in terms of this mechanism, smoother films are formed when their growth is controlled by nitrogen, whereas the characteristic roughness, which is comparable to the mean free path of adatoms, has developed when the growth is controlled by gallium.

Received: 01.06.2015

 English version: Physics of the Solid State, 2015, 57:12, 2524–2531

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