Spontaneous formation of a system of highly ordered germanium nanoislands upon epitaxial deposition on profiled (111) silicon substrates under electromigration conditions

Atomic-force microscopy was used to study the surface topography of SiGe structures grown by epitaxial deposition of Ge on profiled Si(111) substrates under electromigration conditions. Systems of highly ordered germanium nanosized islands with dimensions of 10-20 nm and a density of $6\times10^{10}\,$cm$^{-2}$ were obtained. It is shown that the geometrical parameters of self-organizing nanoislands can be controlled by a proper choice of the growth and postgrowth annealing conditions for these structures.