Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Pp: 81-107 (27)

Abstract

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) represents a widely used growth technique to approach the basic research applied to the growth of semiconductor films and multilayer structures. The main features that distinguish the MBE from other growth techniques are the precise reproducibility of all parameters involved during the epitaxial process, the growth conditions far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and the possibility of controling the kinetic evolution of the outermost layers of the epitaxial film. Nowadays, MBE is also used to grow and investigate nanosized semiconducting materials, which are profoundly interesting for photovoltaic future applications as well.

Keywords: Molecular beam epitaxy, semiconductor thin films, nucleation in film growth, nanocrystalline materials, electron beam deposition, doping thin films, impurities in crystals, quantum dots, RHEED, surface reconstruction, dislocations.