Electrical Activity of Surface Steps of Sapphire as Crystal-Substrate for the Epitaxy
The effect of charged sapphire steps on nanoislands of gold, ZnO, CdTe formed on Al2O3 surface under vacuum condensation is studied. Electrically active surface steps are represented as a special case of the electrical boundaries existing on the surfaces of dielectric crystals. The interaction between an uncharged dome-shaped nanoisland and uniformly charged step is estimated.