Oscillatory optical second-harmonic generation from Si(001) surface during thin-film epitaxy

Abstract

Periodic variation in optical second-harmonic generation during homoepitaxial growth of silicon on singular Si(001) surface is reported. The period of the oscillations corresponds to bilayer growth, and the oscillations are correlated with the mechanism associated with a two-dimensional layer-by-layer growth mode. This mechanism is tentatively attributed to periodic domain coverage variations analogous to the oscillatory response in linear optical technique of reflectance anisotropy. The current experiment, however, cannot distinguish this mechanism from another based on anisotropic second-harmonic generation response with respect to steps. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.