Epitaxy relationships between Ge-islands and SiC(0 0 0 1)

Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) has been used to determine epitaxy relationships and in-plane orientations between Ge and SiC(0 0 0 1). Three monolayers of Ge have been deposited at 500 deg. C on a graphitized SiC (6√3 x 6√3)R30 deg. reconstructed surface, this surface supporting epitaxial Ge island growth in a Volmer-Weber mode. Nucleation of relaxed Ge-islands gives rise to transmission electron diffraction patterns allowing to deduce that pure Ge grows according to only one epitaxy relationship Ge{1 1 1}//SiC(0 0 0 1). These {1 1 1}-Ge-islands have two in-plane orientations, a preferential one, Ge<-1-12>//SiC<1-100> and a minority one, Ge<-1-12>//SiC<10-10>, deduced one from the other by a 30 deg. rotation around the <1 1 1>-Ge (or [0 0 0 1]-SiC) growth axis. Due to the three-fold symmetry of the {1 1 1}-Ge plane, each in-plane orientation is degenerated into two twin orientations, differing by a 180 deg. angle around Ge<111>