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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Electron Channeling Contrast Imaging for Rapid III-V Heteroepitaxial Characterization
Published on: July 17, 2015
Coarsening, mixing, and motion: the complex evolution of epitaxial islands
1IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
Abstract:
During heteroepitaxy, misfit strain causes nanoscale islands to form spontaneously, as "self-assembled quantum dots." The growth and evolution of these islands are remarkably complex. We show that continuum modeling reproduces and explains many of the surprising phenomena observed experimentally. The free energy is reduced by both morphological change and alloy intermixing. However, because diffusion occurs only at the surface, the morphological and compositional evolution are strongly coupled. This leads to a complex dynamical response to the rather simple thermodynamic driving forces.
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