Epitaxy (source code)
= Epitaxy
<Epitaxy> is growth of a crystalline layer with an orientation relationship to a crystalline substrate. Homoepitaxy uses the same material; heteroepitaxy uses a different one. A substrate can guide atomic ordering, but a mismatch of <lattice parameters> introduces strain and can eventually produce misfit <dislocations>. Thus an apparently flat film need not be strain-free or defect-free. <Molecular beam epitaxy> controls incident material fluxes in vacuum, while other epitaxial methods use reactive vapors or liquids. The orientation relationship, layer thickness and strain state are distinct parts of the description.
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