Atomic-force microscopy investigations of self-organized semiconductor nanostructures

C. Teichert

Institute of Physics, University of Leoben, Franz Josef Str. 18, A-8700 Austria

Within the trend towards miniaturization in high-technology applications there are increasing demands for effective and inexpensive ways to fabricate nanostructured surfaces. Exploitation of self-organization phenomena during strained-layer heteroepitaxy or ion-bombardment is an elegant route towards large-scale arrays of uniform semiconductor nanostructures.
For the Stranski-Krastanov growth of SiGe films on vicinal Si(001) substrates it will be shown how atomic-force microscopy - including measurements with carbon nanotube tips - is applied to quantitatively analyze the self-organization of ripple patterns and two-dimensional arrays of faceted crystallites.
Since the self-organized semiconductor nanostructures cover the entire wafer on which the films were grown, they can be used as large-area nanopatterned substrates for subsequent deposition of various material. This novel application will be demonstrated for nanomagnet arrays fabricated by shadow deposition of cobalt onto a specially faceted SiGe film.