A Refined Model for Epitaxial Tilt of Epilayers Grown on Miscut Substrates

TL;DR

This paper presents a refined model explaining epitaxial tilt on miscut substrates, correcting previous misconceptions by analyzing crystal stress and reciprocal space, and providing a new tilt equation based on lattice mismatch and Poisson ratio.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new model for epitaxial tilt that accurately accounts for biaxial stress and reciprocal space reflections, improving upon the Nagai tilt model.

Findings

The stress on epitaxial layers on miscut substrates is not along low index planes.

Asymmetric reflections explain observed epitaxial tilt.

A new tilt equation relates lattice mismatch and Poisson ratio.

Abstract

A refined model of the origin of epitaxial tilt on miscut (or vicinal) substrates is explained by employing crystal modeling and reciprocal space analysis. The Nagai tilt model (H. Nagai, J. Appl. Phys., 45, 3789 (1974)) is often cited to explain the tilt of lattice planes in a pseudomorphic layer deposited on a miscut substrate that is observed in high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. Here, however, we demonstrate how that model incorrectly describes how the substrate applies biaxial stress onto the epitaxial layer. Most importantly, the stress applied to an epitaxial layer on a miscut substrate is not along a low index plane. For example, the surface plane of a nominally (001) cubic substrate with a miscut of 10{\deg} towards the [110] is the (118) plane and the stress applied is parallel along the (118) plane and not (001). Furthermore, under the framework of reciprocal space, the {00l} reflections would be symmetric reflections for on-axis substrates but asymmetric reflections for miscut substrates. The tilt that is experimentally observed between the low index substrate planes and the epitaxial layer planes ((001) for example with a miscut substrate) matches that which is predicted by treating the low index reflections as asymmetric reflections. An epitaxial tilt equation is provided which describes the tilt between epitaxial and substrate layers based on the lattice parameter mismatch as well as the Poisson ratio of the layer that is applicable to any crystal system.