Epitaxy

The future growth of solid-state electronics depends on the ability to produce new high-performance semiconductor devices. This requires the development of new semiconductor materials and the ability to grow special structures, particularly those with very thin layers. Epitaxy, the set of techniques used to produce perfect semiconductor layers, is the topic of this review. The basic concepts underlying epitaxy, thermodynamics, mass transport, surface kinetics and defect generation are discussed first. The specific epitaxial techniques are discussed. Liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) and vapour-phase epitaxy (VPE), including organometallic vapour-phase epitaxy (OMVPE) and molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), are discussed in detail.