Formation of Thin Films of InSb on Pristine and Modified Si(111) Using Solid Phase Epitaxy

The formation of thin films of indium antimonide on Si(111) from a stoichiometric mixture with a thickness of 32–48 nm was performed by solid-phase epitaxy (SPE) at a temperature of 320–380°C under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. It is shown that the use of an array of high-density InSb seed islands makes it possible to form a large-block epitaxial InSb film, while a solid-phase epitaxy from a mixture deposited on a clean surface produces a granular polycrystalline film. Based on the analysis of low energy electron diffraction patterns, X-ray diffraction data and Raman spectra, the stresses in the resulting films were determined: in the out of plane direction the films are weakly compressed by 0.1–0.14% while in the in-plane direction the epitaxial film is compressed by 1.33%. Thus, we show the possibility of forming practically relaxed InSb epitaxial films on Si(111) without the use of buffer of extraneous chemical elements.