Growth behavior of epitaxial MgO films on Si(001) by pulsed laser deposition

Growth behaviors of epitaxial MgO films on Si(001) substrates prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with various deposition conditions were investigated using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using Mg metal target, MgO film was epitaxially grown on H-terminated Si with MgO[100]vertical bar vertical bar Si[100] relation at 400 degrees C and 1x10(-6) Torr O-2 and the formation of three dimensional islands was observed after layer-by-layer growth. MgO can be also epitaxially grown on Si(001) substrate having native SiOx layer with the same epitaxial relation. This phenomenon could be explained by the thermodynamic reaction between Mg and SiO2. As increasing deposition temperature, the epitaxial relation was changed to the mixed texture of MgO[100]vertical bar vertical bar Si[100] and MgO[110]vertical bar vertical bar Si[100].