Epitaxy is a kind of interface between a thin film and a substrate. The term epitaxy (
Greek; epi "above" and taxis "in ordered manner") describes an ordered crystalline growth on a
monocrystalline substrate.Epitaxial films may be grown from
gaseous or
liquid precursors. Because the substrate acts as a
seed crystal, the deposited film takes on a lattice structure and orientation identical to those of the substrate. This is different from other
thin-film deposition methods which deposit
polycrystalline or
amorphous films, even on single-crystal substrates. If a film is deposited on a substrate of the same composition, the process is called homoepitaxy; otherwise it is called heteroepitaxy.
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epitaxial deposition of one type of material on a substrate of the same type of material.