IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-21927-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In situ microbeam surface X-ray scattering reveals alternating step kinetics during crystal growth

Author

Listed:
  • Guangxu Ju

    (Argonne National Laboratory
    Lumileds Lighting Co.)

  • Dongwei Xu

    (Argonne National Laboratory
    Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

  • Carol Thompson

    (Northern Illinois University)

  • Matthew J. Highland

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Jeffrey A. Eastman

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Weronika Walkosz

    (Lake Forest College)

  • Peter Zapol

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • G. Brian Stephenson

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

Abstract

The stacking sequence of hexagonal close-packed and related crystals typically results in steps on vicinal {0001} surfaces that have alternating A and B structures with different growth kinetics. However, because it is difficult to experimentally identify which step has the A or B structure, it has not been possible to determine which has faster adatom attachment kinetics. Here we show that in situ microbeam surface X-ray scattering can determine whether A or B steps have faster kinetics under specific growth conditions. We demonstrate this for organo-metallic vapor phase epitaxy of (0001) GaN. X-ray measurements performed during growth find that the average width of terraces above A steps increases with growth rate, indicating that attachment rate constants are higher for A steps, in contrast to most predictions. Our results have direct implications for understanding the atomic-scale mechanisms of GaN growth and can be applied to a wide variety of related crystals.

Suggested Citation

  • Guangxu Ju & Dongwei Xu & Carol Thompson & Matthew J. Highland & Jeffrey A. Eastman & Weronika Walkosz & Peter Zapol & G. Brian Stephenson, 2021. "In situ microbeam surface X-ray scattering reveals alternating step kinetics during crystal growth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21927-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21927-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21927-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-21927-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21927-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.