A scanning tunneling microscopy study of low-temperature grown GaAs

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to investigate the effect of low-temperature (LT) growth of GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy on the morphology of the resulting surface. We present STM images of a GaAs(001) surface that was grown at ∼300°C and subsequently annealed at 600°C and show that there is a recovery of the (2×4) reconstruction. We also report images of a surface grown on top of a buried LT GaAs layer and show that the LT layer has little effect on the resulting surface morphology. In addition, scanning tunneling spectroscopy spectra are presented which demonstrate that the current-voltage characteristics of annealed and unannealed LT grown GaAs are significantly different.     

Effects of heat treatment on the 0.8 eV photoluminescence emission in GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperatures

We report 0.8 eV photoluminescence (PL) emission of GaAs grown at low temperatures between 325 and 400°C by molecular beam epitaxy. Effects of heat treatments of the 0.8 eV emission are compared with those of the 1.467 eV sharp bound exciton lines. This allows us to attribute the 0.8 eV emisson to the As-V_Ga center. We discuss the assigning of the As_i-V_Ga center to the well-known EL6. The PL intensity variation of 0.68 eV EL2 and 0.8 eV As_i-V_Ga seen in substrate materials is explained in terms of dislocation−mediated As_i-V_Ga transformation to EL2 whereas the PL intensity variation of 0.8 eV As_i-V_Ga for molecular beam epitaxy layers can be attributed to the growth condition.     

A comparison of As and P-based semiconductors grown at low temperatures by MBE and GSMBE

Materials grown at low temperatures by molecular beam epitaxy techniques have exhibited high resistivity after annealing, and sub-picosecond carrier recombination times. Depending on growth parameters, the nonstoichiometric material can contain a high density of group V antisite defects and precipitates of group V and group III atoms. It is well known that a high density of As antisites and As precipitates formed in GaAs contribute to the high resistance. InP grown at low temperatures was also observed to contain precipitates consisting of both P and In. The latter material however does not exhibit the high resistivity of GaAs. This behavior may be due to the presence of indium or P antisite defects.     

A study of the transition from high to low resistivity in As-grown GaAs MBE material

This work discusses the transition from high resistivity as-grown GaAs layers to thermally metastable low resistivity as-grown layers by molecular beam epitaxy. This transition occurs at about 430°C and coincides with a reflective high energy electron diffraction reconstruction change from a 2 × 1 to 2 × 4 pattern for an As₄/Ga beam equivalent pressure ratio of 20. For growth temperatures in the range 350 to 430°C, room temperature Hall-effect measurements have shown resistivities of <10₇ ohm-cm and photoluminescence has shown new peaks at 0.747 eV and a band from 0.708 to 0.716 eV at 4.2K, in unannealed material.     

Investigations on low temperature mo-cvd growth of GaAs

The growth conditions for the deposition at low temperatures of epitaxial layers of GaAs on (100) GaAs crystals using TMG and arsine are studied in detail. The films are grown at atmospheric pressure in a vertical reactor in which the arsine is fed in through the rf heated susceptor for precracking. The growth temperature was varied between 680°C and 450°C. In the whole temperature range epitaxial growth was obtained. The growth rate at temperatures below 600°C depends on the AsH₃ flow, suggesting that the availibility of As vapor species, not AsH₃ limits epitaxial growth in this temperature range. For a constant AsH₃ /TMG ratio of 8 the growth rate decreases by exp (-E/kT) with an activation energy of E = 1.5 eV. Growth rates as low as 0.5 um/h have been achieved. Unintentionally doped layers show semi-insulating behaviour at growth temperatures below 500° C, similar to the behaviour seen from MBE layers. However, n-type layers with reasonable mobilities can be grown in the low temperature range (450 ° C) using H₂ Se as the doping gas.     

Influence of Ga vs As prelayers on GaAs/Ge growth morphology

The surface morphology of GaAs films grown on Ge substrates is studied by scanning force microscopy. We find a dramatic difference arising from Ga as opposed to As prelayers in the formation of anti-phase boundaries (APBs), surface features near threading dislocations, and surface roughness, for films as thick as 1 μm. Ga prelayer samples are smooth; thin films display some APBs with predominantly one growth domain while the 1 μm thick film displays the morphology of a homoepitaxial GaAs film. In contrast, As prelayer samples are rough with complicated APB structures, which can be attributed to the increase in single steps during As₂ deposition.     

Characterization of low range GaAs

We present the results of a study of GaAs material grown at substrate temperatures below 250°C (low range GaAs) by molecular beam epitaxy. This material is amorphous and highly resistive and can be converted to single crystal through annealing process. The crystallization process is investigated by transmission electron microscopy, reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and double-crystal x-ray diffraction techniques.     

Characterization of crystalline low temperature GaAs layers annealed from an amorphous phase

The results from an in-depth characterization of as-grown and annealed low-temperature GaAs layers deposited at less than 260°C are presented. The layers, amorphous as grown, became crystalline after annealing. The crystallization was documented by several characterization techniques including photoreflectance, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence, transmission electron microscopy, and double-crystal x-ray diffraction. The n-type conductivity of the annealed films was exploited for the construction of a diode structure.     

Defects in molecular beam epitaxial GaAs grown at low temperatures

We have utilized a variable energy positron beam and infrared transmission spectroscopy to study defects in GaAs epilayers grown at low temperatures (LT-GaAs) by molecular beam epitaxy. We have measured the Doppler broadening of the positron-electron annihilation gamma ray spectra as a function of positron implantation energy. From these measurements, we have obtained results for the depth profiles of Ga monovacancies in unannealed LT-GaAs and Ga monovacancies and arsenic cluster related defects in annealed LT-GaAs. We have also studied the effects of the Si impurities in annealed LT-GaAs. The infrared transmission measurements on unannealed LT-GaAs furnish a broad defect band, related to As antisites, centered at 0.370 eV below the conduction band.     

Capacitance behavior of GaAs-MIS structures with low-temperature grown GaAs dielectric

Low temperature (LT-) grown GaAs has been used as a dielectric in a metal/ dielectric/semiconductor structure, and its capacitance behavior has been investigated by C–V_B} and admittance spectroscopy. The C-V_B} measurement revealed a barrier height of 0.40 eV at the interface of the LT- and n-GaAs. The capacitance-temperature profile shows a step decrease in capacitance, accompanied by a maximum conductance as the measurement temperature was decreased. The detailed investigation shows that this anomalous C–T behavior is caused by the increase of resistivity of the LT-GaAs, which leads to the formation of a metal/insulator/semiconductor structure at low temperature. This result has an impact on the application of the LT-GaAs, because it introduces a frequency dispersion to the device characteristics.     

Comparison of InGaSb/InAs superlattice structures grown by MBE on GaSb, GaAs, and compliant GaAs substrates

This paper contains the characterization results for indium arsenide/indium gallium antimonide (InAs/InGaSb) superlattices (SL) that were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on standard gallium arsenide (GaAs), standard GaSb, and compliant GaAs substrates. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, peak to valley (P-V) measurement, and surface roughness (RMS) measurements are reported for each sample. For the 5 μm×5 μm images, the P-V heights and RMS measurements were 37 ? and 17 ?, 12 ? and 2 ?, and 10 ? and 1.8 ? for the standard GaAs, standard GaSb, and compliant GaAs respectively. The high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) analysis found different 0^th order SL peak to GaSb peak spacings for the structures grown on the different substrates. These peak separations are consistent with different residual strain states within the SL structures. Depending on the constants used to determine the relative shift of the valance and conduction bands as a function of strain for the individual layers, the change in the InAs conduction band to InGaSb valance band spacing could range from +7 meV to −47 meV for a lattice constant of 6.1532 ?. The cutoff wavelength for the SL structure on the compliant GaAs, control GaSb, and control GaAs was 13.9 μm, 11 μm, and no significant response, respectively. This difference in cutoff wavelength corresponds to approximately a −23 meV change in the optical gap of the SL on the compliant GaAs substrate compared to the same SL on the control GaSb substrate.     

Effect of dopants on arsenic precipitation in GaAs deposited at low temperatures

High resolution x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation was used to characterize GaAs grown by MBE at low temperatures (LT-GaAs) LT-GaAs grown at 225°C is nonstoichiometric and exhibits a 0.15% lattice expansion along the growth direction. Annealing LT-GaAs results in arsenic clusters with a well-defined orientation relationship with the GaAs matrix and a relaxation of the LT-GaAs lattice. The arsenic precipitation corresponds to a classical case of diffsion controlled nucleation and growth followed by coarsening. While the rates of growth and coarsening in the n-doped and the p-doped samples are observed to be identical, the effects of the superlattice seem to accelerate the precipitation kinetics in the p-n superlattice sample. The enhanced coarsening in the p-n superlattice sample is consistent with a previously propsed model involving interaction between charged precipitate and arsenic defects.     

Be doped GaAs grown by migration enhanced epitaxy at low substrate temperature

Conductive Be doped GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low substrate temperatures (300° C) was obtained for the first time by using migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) without subsequent annealing. The layers were characterized using Hall effect, double crystal x-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence. With low arsenic exposure, the low temperature MEE layers doped with Be had the same carrier density and similar luminescent efficiency as layers grown by conventional MBE at 580° C. Mobility at 77 K was reduced somewhat for layers doped at 2 × 10¹⁷cm⁻³, which also exhibited hopping conductivity below 40 K. Double crystal x-ray diffraction showed that low temperature MEE samples grown at low As exposure had the narrow linewidth associated with conventional MBE material grown at 580° C, unlike layers grown by conventional MBE at low temperatures, which exhibit an expansion in lattice parameter.     

Particulates: A direct origin of oval defects in GaAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Based on micrographic as well as experimental analyses, we show that particulates which inadvertently adhere to the surface before the wafer is ready for growth are one of the most significant origins for the formation of oval defects on the GaAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We show that the density of surface particulates is proportional to that of airborne particles surrounding the wafer under preparation, especially during the drying and transferring process. With reduction of airborne particles, we simultaneously reduce the density of oval defects from a few thousand to about 200 cm^-2 for 1-μm thick layers.     

Electrical properties of molecular beam epitaxial GaAs grown at 300–450°C

We use the Hall effect and a new charge-transfer technique to study molecular beam epitaxial GaAs grown at the low substrate temperatures of 300–450°C. Layers grown from 350–450°C are semi-insulating (resistivity greater than 10⁷ Ω-cm), as grown, because of an As_Ga-related donor (not EL2) at E_C-0.65 eV. The donor concentrations are about 2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and 2×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ at growth temperatures of 300 and 400°C, respectively, and acceptor concentrations are about an order of magnitude lower. Relatively high mobilities (∼5000 cm²/V s) along with the high resistivities make this material potentially useful for certain device applications.     

Electrical properties of low-temperature GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy and migration enhanced epitaxy

Measurements on low-temperature GaAs epitaxial layers (LT-GaAs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy and migration enhanced epitaxy showed that the excess arsenic incorporated during growth played a crucial role in determining their electrical properties. The electrical transport in LT-GaAs grown by a standard molecular beam epitaxy proceeded mainly via a hopping process, which showed a higher activation energy and onset temperature than those usually observed in lightly doped semiconductors. Using migration enhanced epitaxy to grow LT-GaAs, we were able to substantially reduce the density of As-rich defects and to achieve a good Hall mobility in Be-doped LT-GaAs. The study presented here indicates that, with controlled excess arsenic incorporation during growth, LT-GaAs can vary in a range of conduction properties and thus can be engineered for different device applications.     

Femtosecond optical response of low temperature grown In0.53Ga0.47As

A femtosecond, tunable color center laser was used to conduct degenerate pump-probe transmission spectroscopy of thin film low temperature grown molecular beam epitaxy In_0.53Ga_0.47As samples. Low temperature molecular beam epitaxy In_0.53Ga_0.47As exhibits a growth-temperature dependent femtosecond optical response when probed near the conduction band edge. Below T_g=250°C, the optical response time of the material is subpicosecond in duration, and we observed induced absorption, which we suggest is due to the formation of a quasi-“three-level system”.     

Hopping conduction and its photoquenching in molecular beam epitaxial GaAs grown at low temperatures

As the growth temperature of molecular beam epitaxial GaAs is increased from 250 to 400°C, the dominant conduction changes from hopping conduction to band conduction with a donor activation energy of 0.65 eV. A 300°C grown layer is especially interesting because each conduction mechanism is dominant in a particular temperature range, hopping below 300K and band conduction above. Below 140K, the hopping conduction is greatly diminished (quenched) by irradiation with either infrared (hv≤1.12 eV) or 1.46 eV light, but then recovers above 140K with exactly the same thermal kinetics as are found for the famous EL2. Thus, the 0.65 eV donor, which is responsible for both the hopping and band conduction, is very similar to EL2, but not identical because of the different activation energy (0.65 eV vs 0.75 eV for EL2).     

Selected-area GaAs epitaxial growth on Si free from detrimental sidewall interactions

The growth of GaAs on patterned Si trenches is essential for the realization of planarized monolithic co-integration of GaAs and Si devices. The patterned boundary regions also provide lateral sinks for stresses and defect propagation so long as the undesirable sidewall growth interactions are suppressed. In this study, we developed a cantilever patterning mask structure, with feature sizes ranging from 1.5 to 100 μm using overhung SiO₂ masks sitting on top of 3-μm-tall undercutting poly-Si patterns. The Si growth surface is protected and unetched. Patterned molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) grown GaAs layers are then prepared with complete elimination of sidewall interactions. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) results show there are reduced-defect areas in the regions 2 to 3 μm from the pattern edges compared to blanket grown areas. Combining the near-edge defect-reduction feature with other defect-reduction schemes incorporated during growth, patterned GaAs with sizes of 10 μm or under exhibits significant material quality improvements compared to blanket layer growth under the same conditions.     

Deep level studies in MBE GaAs grown at low temperature

The photo-induced current transient spectroscopy (PICTS), thermoelectric effect spectroscopy (TEES) and thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectroscopy have been used to characterize the deep levels in the GaAs materials grown at low temperature by molecular beam epitaxy. At least five hole traps and five electron traps have been identified by the TEES measurement employing a simplified sample arrangement. We have studied the behavior of various traps as a function of the growth temperature and the post-growth annealing temperature. Some of the shallower hole traps were annealed out above 650‡ C. Electron traps atE _c- 0.29 eV andE _c- 0.49 eV were present in the material, and have been identified as M3 and M4, respectively. The dominant electron trap, atE _c- 0.57 eV, is believed to be associated with the stoichiometric defect caused by the excess As in the material, and our data show evidence of forming a defect band by this trap. A possible model involving As precipitates is proposed for this trap atE _c-0.57 eV.