High resistivity LT-In0.47Ga0.53P grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

Low-temperature (LT) growth of In_0.47Ga_0.53P was carried out in the temperature range from 200 to 260°C by gas source molecular beam epitaxy using solid Ga and In and precracked PH₃. The Hall measurements of the as-grown film showed a resistivity of ∼10⁶ Ω-cm at room temperature whereas the annealed film (at 600°C for 1 h) had at least three orders of magnitude higher resistivity. The Hall measurements, also, indicated activation energies of ∼0.5 and 0.8 eV for the asgrown and annealed samples, respectively. Double-crystal x-ray diffraction showed that the LT-InGaP films had ∼47% In composition. The angular separation, Δθ, between the GaAs substrate and the as-grown LT-InGaP film on (004) reflection was increased by 20 arc-s after annealing. In order to better understand the annealing effect, a LT-InGaP film was grown on an InGaP film grown at 480°C. While annealing did not have any effect on the HT-InGaP peak position, the LT-InGaP peak was shifted toward the HT-InGaP peak, indicating a decrease in the LT-InGaP lattice parameter. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy indicates the presence of phase separation in LT-InGaP films, manifested in the form of a “precipitate-like” microstructure. The analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy analysis of the LT-InGaP film revealed a group-V nonstoichiometric deviation of ∼0.5 at.% P. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the growth and characterization of LT-InGaP films.     

Gas source molecular beam epitaxy growth of SrS:Ce for flat panel displays

SrS:Ce thin films have been grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE). The growth conditions have been systematically investigated as a function of growth temperature, sulfur to strontium flux ratio, and cerium flux. Single crystal SrS and high quality SrS:Ce were successfully grown on GaAs and glass substrates, respectively, without post-annealing process at temperature as low as 600°C. It was found that the electroluminescence (EL) performance was greatly improved by addition of ZnS during the growth.     

Electrical properties of InAlAs/InAsxP1-x/InP composite-channel modulation-doped structures grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy

We report on the electrical characteristics of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in an InAlAs/InAs_xP_1-x/InP pseudomorphic composite-channel modulation-doped (MD) structure grown by solid source (arsenic and phosphorus) molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE). The As composition, x, of strained InAs_xP_1-x was determined by x-ray diffraction analysis of InP/InAs_xP_1-x/InP multi-quantum wells (MQWs) with compositions of x=0.14 to x=0.72. As the As composition increases, the room temperature sheet resistance of InAlAs/InAs_xP_1-x/InP composite-channel MD structures grown over a range of As compositions decreased from 510 to 250 Ω/cm², resulting from the greater 2DEG confinement and lower electron effective mass in the InAs_xP_1-x channel as x increases. The influence of growth conditions and epitaxial layer designs on the 2DEG mobility and concentration were investigated using 300 K and 77 K Hall measurements. As the exposure time of the As₄ flux on the growth front of InAs_xP_1-x increased during growth interruptions, the 2DEG mobility, in particular the 77K mobility, was considerably degraded due to increased roughness at the InAlAs/InAs_xP_1-x interface. For the InAlAs/InAs_0.6P_0.4/InP composite-channel MD structure with a spacer thickness of 8 nm, the room temperature 2DEG mobility and density were 7200 cm²/Vs and 2.5 × 10¹² cm⁻², respectively. These results show the great potential of the InAlAs/InAs_xP_1-x/InP pseudomorphic composite-channel MD heterostructure for high frequency, power device applications.     

Controlled oxygen incorporation in indium gallium arsenide and indium phosphide grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

The defect engineering in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy In_xGa_1-xAs and InP by controlled oxygen doping using diethyl aluminum ethoxide (DEALO) was developed in this study. DEALO doping has led to the incorporation of Al and O, and the compensation of shallow Si donors in In_xGa_1−xAs: Si with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25. With the same DEALO mole fraction during growth, the incorporation of Al and O was found to be independent of x, but the compensation of Si donors decreases with increasing In content. Deep level transient spectroscopy analysis on a series of In_xGa_1-xAs: Si. samples with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.18 revealed that oxygen incorporation led to a set of deep levels, similar to those found in DEALO doped GaAs. As the In composition was increased, one or more of these deep levels became resonant with the conduction band and led to a high electron concentration in oxygen doped In_0.53Ga_0.47As. Low temperature photoluminescence emission measurements at 12K on the same set of samples revealed the quenching of the near-band edge peak, and the appearance of new oxygen-induced emission features. DEALO doping in InP has also led to the incorporation of Al and O, and the compensation of Si donors due to oxygen-induced multiple deep levels.     

Solid boron and antimony doping of Si and SiGe grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

Solid boron and antimony doping of silicon and SiGe grown by molecular beam epitaxy using disilane and germane as sources has been studied. Elemental boron is a well behaved p-type dopant. At effusion cell temperatures of 1700–1750°C, hole carrier concentrations in the 10²⁰ cm⁻³ range have been obtained. Elemental antimony doping shows surface segregation problems. For uniformly doped layers, the as-grown materials do not show n-type conductivity. Electron concentrations in the 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ range were obtained by post-growth conventional and rapid thermal annealing at 900 and 1000°C, respectively. The electron Hall mobility improves with optimum annealing time. Delta doping of buried layers exhibits slightly better incorporation behavior including significant surface riding effects.     

Incorporation of group V elements in Gaxin1−xAsyP1−y grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

A simple growth model has been successfully developed for the determination of the As to P incorporation ratio, i.e., mole fraction y, in growing Ga_xIn_1−xAs_yP_1−y quaternary alloys by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The model covers the whole composition range with only two fitting parameters, k_In and k_Ga, whose physical meanings are the product of As to P desorption time constant ratio and incorporation rate constant ratio for InAs_yP_1−y and GaAs_yP_1−y, respectively. The best fitting values of k_In and k_Ga from our experimental results are 28 and 3, respectively, at a growth temperature of 480°C. The temperature dependency of the parameters were also studied. The activation energies of k_In and k_Ga are +30 and −330 meV, respectively. The significant differences between the parameters may be due to the different bond energies of binary alloys.     

(111)B-oriented AlAs/GaAs/AIAs double barrier resonant tunneling devices grown in a gas source molecular beam epitaxy system

We have studied the growth of (lll)B-oriented AlAs/GaAs/AIAs double barrier resonant tunneling structures in a gas source molecular beam epitaxy system. We investigate the current peak-to-valley ratios of the resonant tunneling structures grown on (lll)B GaAs substrates under the various growth conditions, such as III/V flux ratios, substrate temperature, growth interruption at the heterointerfaces, buffer or contact layers, etc. We demonstrate that, in contrast to previous reports, high quality heterostructures can be grown in a gas source system if certainIII/V flux ratio, substrate temperature, and misoriented substrate are used. We show that the As/Ga flux ratio plays the key role for the growth on the misoriented ( 111 )B GaAs substrate, and growth at extremely high temperatures is not beneficial to the negative differential resistance. We also show that, although inserting a growth interruption in the buffer layer is believed to be helpful to the surface morphology, it is detrimental to the current peak-to-valley ratio.     

（英）分子束外延生长InAsSb材料的组分控制

采用分子束外延方法在GaAs和GaSb衬底上生长了一系列InAsSb薄膜,研究了Sb组分与Sb4束流间关系.实验发现,在分子束外延生长中,相比As原子, Sb原子更易并入晶格中.利用该特性可较好实现InAsSb材料的组分控制.     

Gas source molecular beam epitaxy of ZnSe and ZnSe:N

The use of gas source molecular beam epitaxy, using hydrogen selenide and elemental Zn as source materials, has resulted in the growth of high quality ZnSe on closely lattice-matched GaAs and (In,Ga)P. The undoped ZnSe epilayers are comparable in quality to material grown by molecular beam epitaxy, as indicated by narrow double-crystal x-ray diffraction rocking curves and intense photoluminescence dominated by a single donor-bound near-bandedge excitonic feature. Nitrogen species, derived from a radio frequency plasma source, are successfully used as acceptor impurities for ZnSe; photoluminescence spectra confirm the incorporation of nitrogen by the presence of the expected donor-to-acceptor pair recombination. Atomic concentrations of nitrogen as high as 5 x 10¹⁸ cm^-3, are measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Thus far, capacitance-voltage measurements indicate net acceptor concentrations (N_A -N_D) of approximately 10¹⁷ cm^-3.     

InAs/GaSb超晶格中波焦平面材料的分子束外延技术

报道了InAs/GaSb超晶格中波材料的分子束外廷生长技术研究.通过改变GaSb衬底上分子束外延InAs/GaSb超晶格材料的衬底温度,以及界面的优化等,改善超晶格材料的表面形貌和晶格失配,获得了晶格失配△a/a=1.5×10-4,原子级平整表面的InAs/GaSb超晶格材料,材料77 K截止波长为4.87 μm.     

AlGaInAs/InP strained-layer quantum well lasers at 1.3 µm grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy

Al_xGa_yIn_1−x−yAs/InP strained-layer multiple-quantum-well lasers emitting at 1.3 μm have been grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy, and the performance characteristics have been studied. The lasers contain 4, 5, or 6 compressively strained quantum wells in the active region. They exhibit low transparency current densities, high gain coefficients, and high characteristic temperatures compared to conventional GaInAsP/InP quantum well lasers. The results show that desired lasing features can be achieved with relatively simple layer structures if the doping profiles and waveguide structures are properly designed and the material is grown to high structural perfection.     

Gas-Source molecular beam epitaxy and characterization of inGaAs/lnGaAsP quantum well structures on InP

In this paper, we report the effect of using a group-V residual source evacuation (RSE) time on the interfaces of InGaAs/lnGaAsP quantum wells (QWs) grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. High-resolution x-ray rocking curve and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) were used to characterize the material quality. By optimizing the RSE time, a PL line width at 15K as narrow as 6.6 meV is observed from a 2 nm wide single QW, which is as good as or better than what has been reported for this material system. Very sharp and distinct satellite peaks as well as Pendellosung fringes are observed in the x-ray rocking curves of In_xGa_1−xAs/InxGa_1−xAS_yP_1−y multiple QWs, indicating good crystalline quality, lateral uniformity, and vertical periodicity. Theoretical considerations of the PL linewidths of In_xGa_1−xAs/InxGa_1−xAS_yP_1−y single QWs show that for QW structures grown with the optimized RSE time, the PL linewidth is mainly due to alloy scattering, whereas the contribution from interface roughness is small, indicating a good interface control.     

Growth of GaAs1−xPx/GaAs and InAsxP1−x/InP strained quantum wells for optoelectronic devices by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy

In this paper we show that pseudomorphically strained heterostructures of InAs _x P_1−x /InP may be an alternative to lattice-matched heterostructures of In_1−x Ga _x As _y P_1−y /InP for optoelectronic applications. We first studied the group-V composition control in the gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) of the GaAs_1-x P _x /GaAs system. Then we studied GSMBE of strained InAs _x P_1−x /InP multiple quantum wells with the ternary well layer in the composition range 0.15 <x < 0.75. Structural and optical properties were characterized by high-resolution x-ray rocking curves, transmission electron microscopy, absorption and low-temperature photoluminescence measurements. High-quality multiple-quantum-well structures were obtained even for highly strained (up to 2.5%) samples. The achievement of sharp excitonic absorptions at 1.06, 1.3 and 1.55μm at room temperature from InAs _x P_1−x /InP quantum wells suggests the possibility of long-wavelength optoelectronic applications.     

Metalorganic InP and Inx Ga1-x,Asy P1-y,on InP epitaxy at atmospheric pressure

We present a procedure for the MOVPE of InP as simple as the one currently used for GaAs. InP and InGaAsP alloys are grown on InP substrates using trimethy1indium (TMI), phosphine, trimethylgallium (TMG) and arsine. The choice of carrier gas is important ; a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen allowed us to grow uniform layers over large areas at atmospheric pressure, without pyrolizing the phosphine or separating the input reactants. Preliminary characterization results are presented. Most information contained in this paper was presented at the 1983 Electron Materials Conference as paper Cl.     

Optical properties of InAs<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>N<Subscript>x</Subscript>/In<Subscript>0.53</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>0.47</Subscript>As single quantum wells grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

Optical properties of InAs_1−xN_x/In_0.53Ga_0.47As (hereafter, abbreviated as InAsN/InGaAs) single quantum wells (SQWs) grown on InP substrates by gas source molecular-beam epitaxy are studied using photoluminescence (PL) measurements. By comparing the low-temperature PL spectra of InAs/InGaAs and InAsN/InGaAs SQWs, InAs and InAsN phases are found to coexist in the InAsN layer. Such serious alloy inhomogeneities result in obvious exciton localization by potential irregularities. The blue shift of the PL peak after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) is found to originate mainly from As-N interdiffusion inside the well layer. According to the temperature-dependent PL results, uniformity of the InAsN layer can be effectively improved by RTA, and the exciton localization is, thus, relieved. Comparison of luminescence quenching and excitation-power-dependent PL behavior between the QWs with and without nitrogen content suggests that the quality of the QW is degraded by the introduction of nitrogen, and the degradation can only be partially recovered by post-growth RTA.     

The effect of trimethylaluminum concentration on the incorporation of P In AlxGa1−xPyAs1−y grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

The organometallic vapor phase epitaxial (OM-VPE) growth of Al_xGa_1-xP_yAs_1-y on graded GaP_yAs_1-yGaAs in the compositional range 0 < x < 0.9 and 0 < y < 0.6 is reported. It is found that composition control can be easily achieved, and that the vapor phase ratio of trimethylaluminum to trimethylgallium strongly influences the incorporation of P in the solid. A model is developed which explains this in terms of competing reaction rates. The model gives a good fit to the experimental data.     

Characteristics and device applications of erbium doped III-V semiconductors grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We have studied the properties of molecular beam epitaxially (MBE)-grown Erdoped III-V semiconductors for optoelectronic applications. Optically excited Er³⁺ in insulating materials exhibits optical emission chiefly around 1.54 μm, in the range of minimum loss in silica fiber. It was thought, therefore, that an electrically pumped Er-doped semiconductor laser would find great applicability in fiber-optic communication systems. Exhaustive photoluminescence (PL) characterization was conducted on several of As-based III-V semiconductors doped with Er, on bulk as well as quantum-well structures. We did not observe any Errelated PL emission at 1.54 μm for any of the materials/structures studied, a phenomenon which renders impractical the realization of an Er-doped III-V semiconductor laser. Deep level transient spectroscopy studies were performed on GaAs and AlGaAs co-doped with Er and Si to investigate the presence of any Er-related deep levels. The lack of band-edge luminescence in the GaAs:Er films led us to perform carrier-lifetime measurements by electro-optic sampling of photoconductive transients generated in these films. We discovered lifetimes in the picosecond regime, tunable by varying the Er concentration in the films. We also found the films to be highly resistive, the resistivity increasing with increasing Er-concentration. Intensive structural characterization (double-crys-tal x-ray and transmission electron microscopy) performed by us on GaAs:Er epilayers indicates the presence of high-density nanometer-sized ErAs precipitates in MBE-grown GaAs:Er. These metallic nanoprecipitates probably form internal Schottky barriers within the GaAs matrix, which give rise to Shockley-Read-Hall recombination centers, thus accounting for both the high resistivities and the ultrashort carrier lifetimes. Optoelectronic devices fabricated included novel tunable (in terms of speed and responsivity) high-speed metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodiodes made with GaAs:Er. Pseudomorphic AlGaAs/ InGaAs modulation doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) (for high-speed MSM-FET monolithically integrated optical photoreceivers) were also fabricated using a GaAs:Er buffer layer which substantially reduced backgating effects in these devices.     

Lateral uniformity in HgCdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The fabrication of high-quality focal plane arrays from HgCdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) requires a high degree of lateral uniformity in material properties such as the alloy composition, doping concentration, and defect density. While it is well known that MBE source flux nonuniformity can lead to radial compositional variation for rotating substrates, we have also found that composition can be affected significantly by lateral variations in substrate temperature during growth. In diagnostic experiments, we systematically varied the substrate temperature during MBE and quantified the dependence of HgCdTe alloy composition on substrate temperature. Based on these results, we developed a methodology to quickly and nondestructively characterize MBE-grown layers using postgrowth spatial mapping of the cutoff wavelength from the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) transmission at 300 K, and we were able to obtain a quantitative relationship between the measured spatial variations in cutoff and the substrate temperature lateral distribution during growth. We refined this methodology by more directly inferring the substrate temperature distribution from secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements of the As concentration across a wafer, using the fact that the As incorporation rate in MBE-grown p-type layers is highly sensitive to substrate temperature. Combining this multiple-point SIMS analysis with FTIR spatial mapping, we demonstrate how the relative contributions from flux nonuniformity and temperature variations on the lateral composition uniformity can be separated. This capability to accurately map the lateral variations in the substrate temperature has been valuable in optimizing the mounting and bonding of large substrates for MBE growth, and can also be valuable for other aspects of MBE process development.     

Origin of void defects in Hg1−xCdxTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Characterization of defects in Hg_1−xCd_xTe compound semiconductor is essential to reduce intrinsic and the growth-induced extended defects which adversely affect the performance of devices fabricated in this material system. It is shown here that particulates at the substrate surface act as sites where void defects nucleate during Hg_1−xCd_xTe epitaxial growth by molecular beam epitaxy. In this study, we have investigated the effect of substrate surface preparation on formation of void defects and established a one-to-one correlation. A wafer cleaning procedure was developed to reduce the density of such defects to values below 200 cm⁻². Focal plane arrays fabricated on low void density materials grown using this new substrate etching and cleaning procedure were found to have pixel operability above 98.0%.     

In-situ control of temperature and alloy composition of Cd1−xZnxTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy

In this work in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) has been applied for the simultaneous determination of the growth temperature and alloy composition for the epitaxial Cd_1−xZn_xTe(211)/Si(211) structure. The optical dielectric functions of CdTe and Cd_0.96Zn_0.04Te (CZT) epilayers were studied as a function of temperature both ex-situ and in-situ in the range from 1.6 eV to 4.5 eV. We employed parametric models for the simulation of the optical properties of CZT at and between the critical points (CP) E₀, E₀ + Δ₀, E₁, E₁ + Δ₁, E₂(Σ) and E₂(Σ). Critical point energies and line widths for Cd_1−xZn_xTe were obtained through the fitting process, which included both zero order and higher order derivatives of the SE pseudo dielectric function. The dependence of the different critical points on Zn concentration x is discussed. It has been demonstrated that the energy of the weak E₀ + Δ₀ transition can be used to measure composition, while the E₁ energy can be used as a real-time temperature measure. The model parameters were optimized through the simultaneous analysis of multiple data sets, and the temperature dependent model was developed for in-situ application. Our analysis is estimated to produce uncertainties of only ±0.5°C in measuring the temperature and ±0.5% in measuring the composition of only the zero order dielectric function is being fitted. The effects of a surface overlayer, of reflected beam deflections, and of other experimental problems on the overall accuracy, are discussed as well as ways to improve the in-situ SE data quality.