Epitaxial growth of amorphous Ge films deposited on single-crystal Ge

The epitaxial growth of amorphous Ge films deposited onto 〈110〉 Ge substrate is demonstrated. Substrate cleaning prior to deposition involves only conventional chemical procedures. The growth appears to be a strong function of the interface cleanliness. Two different growth mechanisms are observed: (a) a direct transition from amorphous to single-crystalline layer and (b) the growth involving the transition of amorphous to polycrystals to single crystal.