Study of the Structural and Thermal Properties of Single Crystalline Epitaxial Rare-Earth-Metal Oxide Layers Grown on Si(111)

Abstract

Stress due to crystal lattice mismatch of rare-earth-metal oxide layer epitaxial grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(111) substrates and thermal expansion induced stress in the system were studied. X-ray diffraction measurements of the layers were performed during heating up to 1000åC. The layers are almost fully relaxed at room temperature. Only minor tetragonal distortion of the crystal lattice was detected. No thermal stress relaxation was indicated by x-ray diffraction in the oxide layer during the heating and cooling procedure. The time-domain thermo-reflectance technique was used for measurement of the thermal conductivity of the oxide layers. Thermal conductivity of the rare earth oxides is approximately five times higher than that of silicon dioxide.