Growth and doping of Si and SiGe films by hydride gas-source molecular beam epitaxy

The use of molecular beams of the hydrides of Si, Ge, As and B provides an ideal vehicle for the in-situ study of the kinetics and dynamics of growth and dopant incorporation of Si and SiGe alloy films. In this article results obtained using reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and reflectance anisotropy (RA), otherwise known as reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS), are summarised. The topics considered include basic reaction kinetics, surface segregation of Ge and As and its effect on rate processes, the influence of surface reconstruction domains on RA response and the application of gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) to the formation of two-dimensional electron gases in modulation-doped SiGe/Si/SiGe heterostructures.