AFM morphological characterization and Raman study of germanium grown on (111)GaAs

In this communication we report on the growth of Ge heterolayers on (100), (111)Ga and (111)As surfaces of GaAs substrates. Arsenic can play a role as both dopant and surfactant, changing the growth mechanism for the Ge/GaAs growth on (001) oriented substrates. The use of substrates oriented in different directions can change the growth mode and produce different results, since surface polarity can induce different growth modes: we have compared the results on (111) substrates with respect to the non-polar surface case. The growth behavior on (001), (111)Ga and (111)As substrates is discussed. The layer morphology was investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy and Raman spectroscopy has been carried out as a function of the sample thickness.