https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00011088
From anisotropic dots to smooth RFe2(110) single crystal layers (R = rare earth)
Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux (UMR 7556 CNRS) ,
Université Henri Poincaré - Nancy I, BP 239,
54506 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
Corresponding author: a mougin@lps.u-psud.fr
Received:
29
June
2000
Published online: 15 January 2001
Single crystal RFe2(110) films were grown by molecular beam epitaxy to a total thickness of 1000 Åat different substrate temperatures ranging from 450 oC to 660 oC. The first stages of growth and the surface morphology of the deposited layers have been studied using Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The growth is first strained but further deposit induces the formation of three-dimensional fully relaxed islands. Subsequently, the morphology of the RFe2(110) nanosystems evolves from anisotropic dots to a smooth surface, as a function of the preparation parameters, i.e. nominal thickness and substrate temperature. It also depends on the rare earth involved in the compound.
PACS: 61.14.Hg – Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) / 61.16.Ch – Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc. / 71.20.Lp – Intermetallic compounds
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2001
