heteroepitaxy

Heteroepitaxy is a process where a crystal layer of one material is grown on top of a crystal substrate made of a different material. The orientation of the new crystal layer is dictated by the underlying substrate's crystal structure. This technique is crucial in the semiconductor industry for creating thin films and quantum wells used in electronic and photonic devices, such as those found in computers and telecommunications.12

The term "epitaxy" comes from Greek words meaning "upon" and "arrangement," highlighting how one crystal is ordered upon another. While homoepitaxy involves growing a crystal layer of the same material as the substrate, heteroepitaxy uses different materials. A key challenge in heteroepitaxy is matching the crystal lattice structures of the substrate and the growing layer to minimize defects. Common methods for achieving epitaxial growth include molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD).132