Interfaces of InAsP/InP multiple quantum wells grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We present results of the growth of InAs_xP_1−x/InP strained heterostructures by low pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. A large incorporation of arsenic into the InAsP ternary was observed using tertiarylbutylarsine as precursor. High resolution x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and optical absorption measurements for InAsP/InP strained multiple quantum wells reveal that the InAsP/InP interface is very sensitive to growth interruption. A systematic study of a growth in terruption sequence designed to improve the InAs/InP interface was carried out. For nonoptimal growth interruption procedures a large density of interface states is created, probably as a consequence of compositional modifications within the interface region. We find that the absorption spectrum may reveal a significant density of interface states. Thus, photoluminescence on its own is insufficient to characterize the interface roughness even for structures showing narrow low-temperature photoluminescence peaks. We also observe an enhancement of the As content for structures grown on InP (001) relative to those simultaneously grown on InP(001) two degrees off toward [100], which suggests that the composition of As in the ternary is limited by its surface diffusion.     

Self-organization phenomenon of strained InGaAs on InP (311) substrates grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We have demonstrated that a self-organization phenomenon occurs in strained InGaAs system on InP (311) substrates grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. This suggests that a similar formation process of nanocrystals exists not only on the GaAs (311)B substrate but also on the InP (311)B substrate. However, the ordering and the size homogeneity of the self-organized nanocrystals are slightly worse than those of the InGaAs/AlGaAs system on the GaAs (311)B substrate. The tensilely strained condition of a InGaAs/InP system with growth interruption in a PH₃ atmosphere reveals a surface morphology with nanocrystals even on the InP (100) substrate. It was found that strain energy and high growth temperature are important factors for self-organization on III-V compound semiconductors. Preliminary results indicate that the self-organized nanostructures in strained InGaAs/InP systems on InP substrates exhibit room temperature photoluminescent emissions at a wavelength of around 1.3 p.m.     

High quality GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown on (111)A substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Growth of GaAs and AlGaAs epitaxial layers on both (111)A and (111)13 faces of GaAs substrates was studied by the atmospheric metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) technique. We show that GaAs and AlGaAs layers with excellent surface quality can be grown at relatively low temperatures and V/III ratios (600°C, 15) on the (111)A face, whereas for layers on the (111)13 face a higher growth temperature (720°C) was required. GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) structures were successfully grown for the first time on the (111)A GaAs face by the MOVPE technique. The effects of various growth conditions on the surface morphology of the epilayers were studied. For the (111)A surface a wide growth window with temperatures in the range 600°-660°C and V/III ratios varying from 15 to 45 was established for obtaining excellent surface morphology. The properties of the QWs were investigated by high resolution X-ray diffractometry, photoluminenscence and photoreflectance measurements. These measurements indicate that the QWs are of very high structural and optical quality.     

ZnMgSSe/ZnSSe/ZnSe-heterostructures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

ZnMgSSe heterostructures have been grown in a low-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy system with the precursors dimethylzinc triethylamine, ditertiarybutylselenide, tertiarybutylthiol, and biscyclopentadienylmagnesium at 330°C and a total pressure of 400 hPa. The optimization of the single layers was carried out by means of low temperature photoluminescence. Only the near band edge emission was observable with negligible deep levels. The heterostructures consisting of a triple ZnSe quantum well showed intense luminescence which hints at an effective carrier confinement. Scanning transmission electron microscopy investigations of the heterostructures still showed structural detects since the layers were not lattice matched to the GaAs substrate yet.     

High performance of Fe:InP/InGaAs metal/semiconductor/metalphotodetectors grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

An InGaAs metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector with an Fe-doped InP Schottky barrier enhancement layer is described. With 5-V bias, the detector has negligible low-frequency gain, a low dark current of 200 nA, a responsivity of 0.3 A/W, and an impulse response with a 1/ e fall time of 65 ps, corresponding to a 3 dB bandwidth of 2.5 GHz. The device layer structure is a very attractive candidate for integration with high-performance InGaAs/InP FETs     

Interdiffusion and relaxation in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy grown InGaAs/GaAs strained layer quantum wells

Low pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy grown strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures have been characterized by photoluminescence and x-ray diffraction. It is shown that beyond the pseudomorphic limit, these structures show considerable gallium/indium interdiffusion at the interfaces and partial strain relaxation in the quantum well layers.     

Excitonic properties of Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe quantum well structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

This paper presents optical characteristics of Zn_0.82Cd_0.18Se/ZnSe single quantum well (SQW) structures grown by a low-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. The excitonic optical absorption and emission properties are studied by electroreflectance, photocurrent, and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum measurements under controlled high electric fields. The PL spectrum shows a considerable red shift (up to 20 meV) against the ground state of the heavy-hole exciton in the SQW, and is quite iN_Sensitive to the applied high electric field (>10⁴V/cm). The results have indicated that the exciton responsible for the photon emission process (spontaneous/stimulated) is different from the ground state of the heavy-hole exciton, which is responsible for the photon absorption process.     

Kink-free AlInAs/GaInAs/InP HEMTs grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Kink-free AlInAs/GaInAs/InP HEMTs have been fabricated from an MBE structure grown under normal growth condition. Devices with 1 mu m gate-length exhibit an extrinsic transconductance of 450 mS/mm and a maximum drain current of 600 mA/mm which represent the best results for 1 mu m gate devices. The DC output conductance shows no kink over the entire gate bias range. The elimination of the kink is attributed to the high quality AlInAs buffer layer and a low mismatch between the AlInAs buffer layer and InP substrate.<>     

High-current-gain InGaAs/InP double-heterojunction bipolartransistors grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

By inserting a thin n-InP layer between the p⁺-InGaAs base and the n-InP collector excellent transistor characteristics were obtained. The DE and small-signal current gains were 7000 and 11000, respectively, which are the highest values reported for transistors of this type. The transistors were also operated in a collector-up configuration with DE gains as large as 2500     

High quality compressively strained InP-based GaInAs(P)/GaInAsP multi-quantum well laser structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

The growth and characterization of strained GaInAs and GaInAsP multiquantum well (MQW) laser structures has been investigated. The use of triple axis x-ray diffraction (XRD), in addition to the conventional high resolution double crystal XRD, yields further information about the structural integrity of these complex structures. Buried heterostructure lasers with eight GaInAsP wells (+1.0% strain, 80Å thick) exhibit a record low threshold current of 3.1 mA. By using a constant As/P ratio in the wells and barriers of an MQW laser structure, we have shown that the structure can be annealed at 700°C for 1 h with only a minimal shift (-4 nm) in the photoluminescence emission wavelength. Conventional lattice-matched GaInAs/GaInAsP MQW structures exhibit a shift of-46 nm under the same conditions.     

Optoelectronic integrated receivers on InP substrates byorganometallic vapor phase epitaxy

The monolithic integrated ion of a p-i-n photodiode and a high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifier on an InP substrate by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy is discussed. The receiver operated with up to 1.6 Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero optical signals. The responsivity was 1 kV/W and the minimum optical power at a bit error rate of 10^-9 was -24 dBm for 400 Mb/s nonreturn-to-zero optical signals     

Photoluminescence characteristics and pit formation of InGaN/GaN quantum-well structures grown on sapphire substrates by low-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We have examined how a growth interruption, caused by closing group-III sources, affects the crystalline quality of InGaN/GaN quantum-well (QW) structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The QW samples were characterized by their photoluminescence (PL), and by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) microanalysis. The PL peak wavelength was strongly dependent on the duration of the growth interruption and on the number of QW layers. AFM measurements revealed that the size of the open hexagonally shaped pits in the QW structures increased dramatically as the interruption duration was lengthened. Through TEM and EDX microanalysis, we found that the formation of these hexahedronal pits, formed due to the growth interruption, causes a large fluctuation in the In composition, especially around the pits, and the presence of such pits in an underlying QW layer strongly affects the In incorporation into the upper QW layers, leading to significant growth-rate variation in an InGaN QW layer and red-shifting of the PL spectra when a multiple-QW structure is grown.     

Residual impurities in GaN/Al2O3 grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Residual impurities in GaN films on sapphire (A1₂O₃) substrates grown by two-step metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) have been investigated. We have mainly investigated the incorporation of carbon into the GaN films with GaN buffer layers on A1₂O₃ during MOVPE growth, comparing trimethygallium (TMGa) and triethygallium (TEGa) as the typical gallium precursors. The films were characterized by secondary ion mass spectroscopy analysis, photolu-minescence, and Hall measurements. The carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen concentrations increase with decreasing growth temperature in using TMGa. Especially the carbon concentration increases with decreasing a V/III ratio, for both TMGa and TEGa. There is about two times more carbon in the GaN films grown using TEGa than those using TMGa. The carbon from TMGa mainly enhances the D-A pair emission (∼378 nm), which shows the carbon makes an acceptor level at nitrogen sites in GaN. On the other hand, the carbon from TEGa enhances a deep emission (∼550 nm), which shows the carbon makes not only an acceptor level but deep levels at interstitial sites in GaN. The carbon impurities originate from methyl radicals for TMGa, or ethyl radicals for TEGa. It is supposed that, in the case of TEGa, the carbon impurities are not always located at nitrogen sites, but are also located at interstitial sites because of the C-C bonding in ethyl radicals.     

Origin of nonradiative recombination centers in AlGaInP grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We report the first concrete evidence that oxygen causes nonradiative deep levels in (Al_x Ga_1–x)_0.5In_0.5P grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. We doped AlGaInP with O₂ and investigated the oxygen and deep level concentrations by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and isothermal capacitance transient spectroscopy. We confirmed that oxygen causes the D3 (thermal activation energy: E_T ? 1.0 e V for x = 0.7, nonradiative recombination center) and D2 (E_T ? 0.46 e V) levels, which we previously found in undoped AlGaInP. We demonstrate that the oxygen and nonradiative deep level concentrations are significantly reduced at higher growth temperatures, higher PH3 partial pressures, and substrate offset from (100) toward [011].     

Interface strain in organometallic vapor phase epitaxy grown InGaAs/InP superlattices

The spatial distribution of strain in organometallic vapor phase epitaxy grown InGaAs/InP superlattice structures has been studied by varying the thicknesses of the InGaAs well and the InP barrier layers and measuring the strain. High resolution x-ray diffraction rocking curves were used to measure the strain from angular separation between the zeroth-order superlattice peak and the substrate (004) peak. The results are consistent with a compressive strain resulting from arsenic carryover into the InP following InGaAs growth. The strain is not localized at the interfaces but extends into the InP barrier layer. The amount of arsenic carryover increases with the growth time of the InGaAs well.     

Selective growth of InP on patterned,nonplanar InP substrates by low-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

The effects of indium sources, mask materials and etched mesa profiles on growth mor-phology of Fe-doped semi-insulating InP on patterned, nonplanar InP substrates were studied for low-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). The presence or absence of polycrystalline InP layers deposited on the mask was found to depend on the indium source but not on the mask material. Trimethylindium was found to be the preferable indium source for prevention of polycrystalline InP deposits on the mask. The etched mesa shape was found to dominate the final geometry of the OMVPE re-grown InP layer. Inclusion of an interfacial layer of 1.16 μm bandgap wavelength InGaAsP between the dielectric mask and InP substrate produces a favorable mesa shape by con-trolling the level of undercut during mesa etching, so as to form a smooth mesa profile. After selective regrowth of InP over the resulting mesa, a planar surface is typically achieved for mesa stripes with a mask overhang length as long as 2.6 μm and a mesa height as high as 4 μm.     

Morphology and defect structures of GaSb islands on GaAs grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

The initial nucleation of GaSb on (001) GaAs substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy has been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). TEM results showed that the GaSb islands experience a morphological transition as the growth temperature increases. For growth at 520°C, the islands are longer along the [110] direction; at 540°C, they are nearly square, and at 560°C, they are longer along the direction. Possible mechanisms are proposed to describe such a transition. TEM and HREM examination showed that lattice misfit relaxation mechanisms depend on the growth temperature. For the sample grown at 520°C, the lattice mismatch strain was accommodated mainly by 90° dislocations; for the sample grown at 540°C, the misfit strain was relieved mostly by 90° dislocations with some of 60° dislocations, and for the sample grown at 560°C, the strain was accommodated mainly by 60° dislocations which caused a local tilt of the GaSb islands with respect to the GaAs substrate. The density of threading dislocations was also found to be dependent on the growth temperature. Mechanisms are proposed to explain these phenomena.     

Thermal annealing effects on p-type conductivity of nitrogendoped ZnSe grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Post-growth thermal annealing (e.g., 500°C, 30 min), is proposed as one of the promising techniques to realize and to improve the quality of p-type ZnSe layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The layers were grown at low temperature (350°C) by photo-assisted MOVPE with doping nitrogen from tertiarybutylamine (t-BuNH₂). The flow rate of t-BuNH₂ was limited to be relatively low, in order to avoid heavy doping, with which as-grown layers exhibited electrically high-resistivity; but the thermal annealing converted the layers to p-type. As the as-grown layers exhibited the stronger donor-to-acceptor pair recombination lines or the weaker donor-bound excitonic emission (I_x) lines in photoluminescence, the annealed layers resulted in higher net acceptor concentration, which was 1 x 10¹⁷ cm⁻⁴ at the optimum conditions at present.     

Long-wavelength strained-layer InAs/GaInAs single-quantum-well laser grown by molecular beam epitaxy on InP substrate

Laser emission is reported for the first time from a 10 monolayer-wide highly strained (3.2%) InAs single quantum well confined by Ga/sub 0.47/In/sub 0.53/As layers. At 80 K the emission spectrum of broad-area laser diodes is centred at 1.836 mu m, the threshold current-density is approximately 500 A/cm/sup 2/ and the characteristic temperature is T/sub 0/ approximately=30 K. CW operation is achieved up to 110 K with narrow-stripe devices but at shorter wavelength, due to increased losses and filling of the quantum-well energy levels.<>