EPITAXY OF DISSIMILAR MATERIALS

Differences in crystal structure, bonding, and materials properties play important roles in dissimilar materials epitaxy. Emphasis is placed on how these differences affect the growth of dissimilar materials heterostructures. Examples of the growth of elemental metals and semi-metals (Al, Ag, Sb, Bi); metallic and semi-metal compounds (transition-metal group III compounds with CsCl crystal structure, rare-earth group V compounds with NaCl crystal structure, orthorhombic YbSb2, Fe3Al1-xSix with BiF3 crystal structure); magnetic compounds (tetragonal tau-MnAl, hexagonal alpha-MnAs); and insulators (rare-earth trifluorides with tysonite crystal structure, metal fluorides with the CaF2 crystal structure) on compound semiconductors are used to demonstrate the issues involved. The use of template layers is crucial in controlling the orientation and crystal quality of the epitaxial layers.