Three-dimensional isocompositional profiles of buried SiGe/Si(001) islands

The authors investigate the composition profile of SiGe islands after capping with Si to form quantum dots, using a two step etching procedure and atomic force microscopy. Initially, the Si capping layers are removed by etching selectively Si over Ge and then the composition of the disclosed islands is addressed by selectively etching Ge over Si. For samples grown at 580 degrees C the authors show that even when overgrowth leads to a flat Si surface and the islands undergo strong morphological changes, a Ge-rich core region is still preserved in the dot. At high growth and overgrowth temperatures (740 degrees C), the experiments show that the newly formed base of the buried islands is more Si rich than their top. Furthermore, the authors find that for the growth conditions used, no lateral motion takes place during capping. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.