Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Recent progress in the heteroepitaxial growth of layered structures of Si, Ge, GaAs, and alkaline earth fluorides is reviewed. Effectiveness of the predeposition technique, in which a thin Si layer is deposited on the CaF2 surface at room temperature prior to the growth of a thick Si film at 800°C, is shown for the growth of Si films on CaF2/Si structures. In case of the overgrowth of Ge and GaAs films on (111) substrates, modification of the fluoride surface by electron beam exposure is effective to increase the wettability between fluoride and semiconductor films and to improve the crystallinity and surface morphology of the films. Finally, antiphase disorder in the GaAs(l00) films grown on fluorides is experimentally studied and the generation mechanisms are discussed.