Growth of spatially ordered Ge nanoclusters in an amorphous matrix on rippled substrates

So far, the growth of spatially ordered nanoclusters by multilayer deposition has been reported and explained satisfactorily only in crystalline materials. Here we demonstrate a method for the growth of spatially ordered nanoclusters in amorphous matrices, where the ordering is achieved in the single large domain. The regular ordering is induced by the deposition of a multilayer on a periodically rippled substrate at an elevated substrate temperature. During the deposition, the nanoclusters self-arrange, following the morphology of the substrate.