It was shown that, under typical growth conditions, strain levels that were greater than, or equal to 10-4, affected the thin-film surface morphologies and strain-relaxation pathways. Misfit and threading dislocations in relaxed heterostructures produced long-wavelength undulations at the surface, and shallow depressions, respectively. Threading dislocation densities of greater than 105 to 106/cm2, in relaxed heterostructures, were attributed to increased obstacles to dislocation motion. These in turn originated from the effect of the misfit dislocations upon the surface morphology. Under typical growth conditions, the origin of strain-induced surface features could be identified by recognizing the length-scale at which the features occurred.

Influence of Strain on Semiconductor Thin Film Epitaxy. E.A.Fitzgerald, S.B.Samavedam, Y.H.Xie, L.M.Giovane: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, 1997, 15[3], 1048-56