Hydrogen and inert species in solid phase epitaxy

The incorporation of hydrogen during deposition of amorphous germanium can influence solid phase epitaxy in many ways. We show that Ge–H bonds are not important during the crystallization process. However, atomic hydrogen is important during deposition to obtain a highly disordered layer. We have found that highly disordered layers can also be obtained when using a beam of inert gas species during ultrahigh vacuum deposition. These inert species effectively increase the disorder of the layer by limiting the surface mobility of adsorbed germanium atoms. In this way subsequent solid phase epitaxy can be improved significantly.