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 Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> 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.