Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Epitaxial Si films have been grown on single crystalline CaF2 on (l00)Si substrates by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) or combination of MBE and solid phase epitaxy(SPE) of deposited amorphous Si(a-Si). It has been found that Ca and F segregate at the surface of the Si grown by MBE. The high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns from the Si surface show the superstructures which are caused by the existence of Ca and F at the Si surface. To reduce the segregation effect, SPE process has been successfully applied to Si epitaxy. The Si SPE performed on top of the MBE Si layer reduces the Ca concentration at the Si surface by an order of magnitude, although the segregation effect is not completely suppressed.