Epitaxial growth of germanium on silicon using a Gd₂O ₃/Si (111) crystalline template

This work presents a study of the epitaxial growth of Ge on Si (111) using a Gd₂O₃ crystalline template. A smooth two-dimensional Ge layers is obtained from the coalescence of initially three-dimensional Ge islands grown in the Volmer-Weber mode. Ge takes its bulk lattice parameter at the very early stages of its growth. A detailed x-ray pole figure analysis reveals that the epitaxial relationship between the layers and the Si substrate is [1-10] Ge(111)||[-110]Gd₂O₃ (111) ||[1-10] Si (111) and that microtwins are formed in the Ge layer.