Thermally Induced Formation of Etch Pits on Ge Surfaces under Conditions of CVD Graphene Growth

Pit-like defects formed on Ge(001) and Ge(111) substrates during annealing under CVD conditions for graphene growth have been investigated. The changes in morphology and density of pits were found to be dependent on the annealing temperature as well as the substrate orientation. The shape of pits was similar to the ones observed under chemical etching process. The pits are assessed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy