Homoepitaxy

Homoepitaxy is epitaxy in which the deposited crystalline material is the same material as its crystalline substrate. Growing silicon on a silicon wafer is a standard example. The substrate supplies an orientation template, allowing the new layer to continue the crystal's ordering.

Using the same material does not require identical impurity concentrations or electrical properties. Controlled semiconductor doping can create a layer with a different carrier concentration while retaining the same host crystal structure. Surface preparation, contamination and growth conditions still control defects and interfaces. Homoepitaxy is therefore useful for separating control of crystalline orientation from control of a device layer's composition and electronic behaviour.