AFM observation of nanosized SiC dots prepared by ion beam deposition

Nanosized silicon carbide (SiC) dots are grown by low‐energy mass‐selected ion beam deposition (MSIBD) on 4°‐off Si(111) substrates at temperatures of 800–950°C and examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We find that the size distribution and the geometrical arrangement of SiC dots strongly depend on the substrate temperature, i.e. highly uniform SiC dots are formed at 800°C and 850°C; in particular, SiC dots are arranged in lines when the deposition temperature is as low as 800°C. These results indicate that self‐assembled SiC dots can be prepared on misoriented substrates at low deposition temperatures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.