Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Epitaxy
Summary
Epitaxy (prefix epi- means "on top of”) refers to a type of crystal growth or material deposition in which new crystalline layers are formed with one or more well-defined orientations with respect to the crystalline seed layer. The deposited crystalline film is called an epitaxial film or epitaxial layer. The relative orientation(s) of the epitaxial layer to the seed layer is defined in terms of the orientation of the crystal lattice of each material. For most epitaxial growths, the new layer is usually crystalline and each crystallographic domain of the overlayer must have a well-defined orientation relative to the substrate crystal structure. Epitaxy can involve single-crystal structures, although grain-to-grain epitaxy has been observed in granular films. For most technological applications, single domain epitaxy, which is the growth of an overlayer crystal with one well-defined orientation with respect to the substrate crystal, is preferred. Epitaxy can also play an important role while growing superlattice structures.
The term epitaxy comes from the Greek roots epi (ἐπί), meaning "above", and taxis (τάξις), meaning "an ordered manner".
One of the main commercial applications of epitaxial growth is in the semiconductor industry, where semiconductor films are grown epitaxially on semiconductor substrate wafers. For the case of epitaxial growth of a planar film atop a substrate wafer, the epitaxial film's lattice will have a specific orientation relative to the substrate wafer's crystalline lattice such as the [001] Miller index of the film aligning with the [001] index of the substrate. In the simplest case, the epitaxial layer can be a continuation of the same exact semiconductor compound as the substrate; this is referred to as homoepitaxy. Otherwise, the epitaxial layer will be composed of a different compound; this is referred to as heteroepitaxy.
Homoepitaxy is a kind of epitaxy performed with only one material, in which a crystalline film is grown on a substrate or film of the same material.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood
Related courses (13)
PHYS-747: Introduction to Metalorganic Vapour Phase Epitaxy of III-V semiconductors
This course offers an insight into the science of epitaxial growth, a chapter of surface science requiring basic understanding of thermodynamics, crystallography, electronic and optical properties of
MSE-649: Crystal growth by epitaxy
This is an interactive course explaining the main physical and chemical concepts to understand epitaxy of crystalline thin films and what determines the morphology, composition and structure of a mate
Related lectures (32)
Strain and Heteroepitaxy
Explores the impact of strain on semiconductor band structures, epitaxy, critical thickness, and defect formation, emphasizing the role of Hooke's law and elasticity theory.
Quantum Nanostructures: Growth and Fabrication
Covers epitaxy, quantum nanostructures growth, and quantized energy levels computation.
Chemical Vapour Deposition BasicsMOOC: Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS)
Introduces the basics of Chemical Vapour Deposition, covering gas flow, pressure, and film growth kinetics.
Related publications (804)