Vertical and lateral ordering of Ge islands grown on Si(001): theory and experiments

A set of recent results concerning lateral and vertical ordering of Ge islands grown on Si(001) is reviewed. Experimental data generated by chemical vapour deposition and analysed by atomic force microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy are compared with computer simulations and modelling based on atomistic approaches and continuum theory. In particular, we show that it is possible to probe experimentally the detailed strain field generated by buried Ge islands at the surface of the Si capping layer. The observed arrangement of small Ge islands grown over the capping layer is demonstrated to be very close to the one predicted by a simple model where the local chemical potential is inferred from the strain field at the atomic scale, as given by Tersoff- potential molecular dynamics simulations. Moreover, we review recent experimental evidence for lateral ordering, triggered by partial Si capping, in the first layer of Ge islands on Si(001). Theoretical support is given by showing that when two islands lie in close proximity the elastic field is likely to generate a flow of atoms leading to an effective gliding motion along opposite directions of both islands, eventually stopped by the presence of further neighbouring islands.