Surface flattening and Ge crystalline segregation of Ag/Ge structure by thermal anneal

Abstract We have studied the formation of an ultrathin Ge crystalline layer by thermal annealing of Ag/Ge(100) and Ag/Ge(111) to obtain insights into the growth kinetics of two-dimensional Ge crystal. An atomic force microscope was used to evaluate the effect of the surface orientation of the Ge substrate on the surface morphology change by annealing in N 2 ambience at atmospheric pressure. Moreover, a very flat surface was obtained for both Ag/Ge(100) and the Ag/Ge(111) by controlling the anneal temperature. In addition, analysis of the Raman scattering spectroscopy indicated the formation of surface segregated Ge with high crystallinity on a flat Ag surface.