Growth and characterizations of InP self-assembled quantum dots embedded in InAIP grown on GaAs substrates

We report the characteristics of InP self-assembled quantum dots embedded in In_0.5Al_0.5P on GaAs substrates grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The InP quantum dots show increased average dot sizes and decreased dot densities, as the growth temperature increases from 475°C to 600°C with constant growth time. Above the growth temperature of 600°C, however, dramatically smaller and densely distributed self-assembled InP quantum dots are formed. The small InP quantum dots grown at 650°C are dislocation-free “coherent” regions with an average size of ∼20 nm (height) and a density of ∼1.5 × 10⁸ mm⁻². These InP quantum dots have a broad range of luminescence corresponding to red or organge in the visible spectrum.     

Growth,characterization, and modeling of ternary InGaAs-GaAs quantum wells by selective-area metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

A computational diffusion model is used to predict thickness and composition profiles of ternary In_xGa_1-xAs quantum wells grown by selective-area, atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and its accuracy is investigated. The model utilizes diffusion equations and boundary conditions derived from basic MOCVD theory, with reaction parameters derived from experimental results, to predict the concentration of each column III constituent throughout the concentration boundary layer. Solutions to these equations are found using the two-dimensional, finite element method. The growth thickness profiles of GaAs, InP, and In_xGa_1-xAs deposited by selective-area MOCVD are observed by conventional profilometry, and compositions are measured indirectly by laser emission wavelengths. The data presented show that the model accurately predicts growth thickness and composition profiles of ternary III-V materials grown by selective-area MOCVD.     

Photoluminescence studies on InGaAlP layers grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The optical properties for In_0.5(Ga_1-x Al _x )_0.5P (0 <x < 0.4) layers, grown by low-pressure Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition, have been studied with photolominescence (PL) measurement. The PL intensity decreases with the increase of the Al composition (0 <x < 0.4). This dependence could not be accounted for only by the electron overflow from theΓ band to the X band. And the PL intensity is directly proportional to the excitation power at low temperature, below 50 K. On the other hand, the PL intensity is proportional to the second power of the excitation power at a high temperature range (>200 K). These results indicate that non-radiative recombination centers bound to theΓ band in In_0.5(Ga_1-x Al _x )_0.5P play a very important role in the radiation mechanism. PL dependence also shows these non-radiative recombination centers are thought to have strong relation to the aluminum substitution for In_0.5(Ga_1-x Al _x )_0.5P.     

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth and characterization of InGaP/GaAs superlattices

Lattice-matched In_0.49Ga_0.51P/GaAs superlattices were grown on (001) GaAs substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The interface properties were characterized by photoluminescence, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. By varying the growth temperature, the precursor flow rates, and the growth interruption at the interfaces, we found that, while arsenic and phosphorus carry over have some effect on the formation of a low-bandgap InGaAsP quaternary layer at the interfaces, the In surface segregation seems to play an important role in the formation of the interface quaternary layer. Evidence of this indium segregation comes from x-ray and photoluminescence studies of samples grown at different temperatures. These studies show that the formation of an interfacial layer is more prominent when the growth temperature is higher. Growing a thin (∼1 monolayer thick) GaP intentional interfacial layer on top of the InGaP before the growth of the GaAs layer at the P→As transition effectively suppresses the formation of the low-bandgap unintentional interface layer. On the other hand, the growth of a thin GaAsP (or GaP) layer before the growth of the InGaP layer, at the As→P transition increases the formation of a low-bandgap interfacial layer. This nonequivalent effect of a GaP layer at the two interfaces on the PL properties is discussed.     

Growth of high-quality 1.93-eV AIGaAs using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

High-quality Al_xGa_1-xAs with a bandgap of 1.93 eV has been grown using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Levels exceeding 10₁₈ cm_-3 can be obtained for Se, Si and Zn dopants. In particular, incorporation of the re-type dopants at this bandgap is not appreciably less efficient than in lower-bandgap Al_xGa_1-xAs. The best material, as measured by photoluminescence intensity, is obtained using high V/III ratios (40 forp-type material and as high as 60 forn- type and low growth rates (300 Å/min). Purification of the arsine in situ with an Al/Ga/In eutectic bubbler to remove trace water and oxygen impurities is found to be essential for the growth of high-quality material, as indicated by photoluminescence intensity measurements. Solar cells fabricated from such material exhibit efficiencies as high as 12.1% under one-sun, airmass zero (AMO) conditions, with an open-circuit voltage of 1.38 V, short-circuit current density of 14.1 mA/cm², and fill factor of 0.84.     

Growth of GaxIn1−xAs1−ySby alloys by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The quaternary GaInAsSb alloy system with direct band gaps adjustable in wavelength from 1.7 to 4.3 μm, which may provide the basis for emitters and detectors over this entire region, was studied. Alloys of GaInAsSb were grown lattice-matched on GaSb substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using a conventional atmospheric pressure horizontal reactor. The properties of the GalnAsSb alloys were characterized by single crystal x-ray rocking curves, the double crystal x-ray rocking curves, the photoluminescence and infrared absorption. A preliminary study of the capabilities of scanning electron acoustic microscopy in the characterization of GaInAsSb alloy has been made, some observations are briefly compared with scanning electron microscopy.     

InGaAs quantum dots formed in tetrahedral-shaped recesses on GaAs (111)B grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Novel semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), grown in tetrahedral-shaped recesses (TSRs) formed on a (111)B GaAs substrate, are described from both material science and device application points of view. After explaining the fabrication procedure for TSRs, growth of InGaAs QDs and their optical properties are explained. It is revealed that an InGaAs QD of indium-rich chemical composition is formed spontaneously at the bottom of each TSR. The mechanism of the QD formation is discussed in detail. It is proved from magneto-photoluminescence that the QDs actually have optical properties peculiar to zero-dimensional confinement. Several experimental results indicating excellent growth controllability of the QDs are presented. Finally, recent challenges to apply the QDs to electronic memory devices are reported. Two kinds of devices, where the position of individual QD is artificially controlled, are proposed for the first time and the preliminary experimental results are explained.     

The growth of AlInSb by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have grown Al_xIn_1−xSb epitaxial layers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using tritertiarybutylaluminum (TTBAl), trimethylindium (TMIn), and triethylantimony (TESb) as sources in a high speed rotating disk reactor. Growth temperatures of 435 to 505°C at 200 Torr were investigated. The V/III ratio was varied from 1.6 to 7.2 and TTBAl/(TTBAl+TMIn) ratios of 0.26 to 0.82 were investigated. Al_xIn_1−xSb compositions from x=0.002 to 0.52 were grown with TTBAl/(TTBAl+TMIn) ratios of 0.62 to 0.82. Under these conditions, no Al was incorporated for TTBAl/(TTBAl+TMIn) ratios less than 0.62. Hall measurements of Al_xIn_1−xSb showed hole concentrations between 5×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ to 2 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and mobilities of 24 to 91 cm²/Vs for not intentionally doped Al_xIn_1−xSb.     

High-Quality GaN heteroepitaxial films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

In this paper, we describe the growth and characterization of high-quality GaN heteroepitaxial films grown on basal-plane sapphire substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The quality of these films is analyzed by a variety of methods, including high-resolution x-ray diffraction, optical transmission spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), room temperature photoluminescence, and room-temperature Hall measurements. The x-ray diffraction full width at half maximum value of ΔΘ ～37 arc s is the narrowest reported to date for any III-V nitride film on any substrate. The x-ray rocking curves for ～0.48 μm thick GaN/Al₂O₃ heteroepitaxial layers exhibit Pendellösung fringes, indicating that even relatively thin films can be of high quality. High-resolution TEM lattice images further attest to the excellent structural quality, showing the films to be completely free of stacking faults. Furthermore, no evidence of columnar growth is observed.     

Effects of trimethylindium on the purity of In0.5Al0.5P and In0.5Al0.5as epilayers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

In_0.5Al_0.5P lattice-matched to GaAs and In_0.5A1_0.5As lattice-matched to InP epilayers were grown by atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (AP-MOCVD). The effect of trimethylindium on the purity of the as-grown layers was systematically studied using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The SIMS results showed that oxygen is the main impurity in all layers and the oxygen concentration in InAlP was approximately one to four orders of magnitude higher than the oxygen concentration found in InALAs when the same indium source was used, indicating that more oxygen was introduced by the phosphine source than by the arsine source. Two electron traps in the InAlP epilayers and four electron traps in the InALAs epilayers were observed in this study. When a high-purity indium source was used, the best InAlP epilayer showed only one deep electron trap at 0.50 eV while the best InALAs epilayer showed no deep levels measured by DLTS. In addition, we also found that a high concentration of oxygen is related to the high resistivity in both material systems; this suggests that semi-insulating (SI) materials can be achieved by oxygen doping and high quality conducting materials can only be obtained through the reduction of oxygen. The oxygen concentration measured by SIMS in the best InALAs epilayer was as low as 3 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³.     

The effects of V/III ratio and growth temperature on the electrical and optical properties of InP grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Electrical and optical properties of InP grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using triethylindium (TEI) and phosphine (PH₃) are described. It was found that the net ionized impurity concentration shows a monotonic decrease as the PH₃/TEI ratio increases. Similarly, the electron mobility and the photoluminescent intensity increases with the PH₃/TEI ratio. The effect of growth temperature has also been investigated in the range from 500 to 650°C. For a variety of PH₃/TEI ratios, the optimal growth temperature is in the range of 550×600éC. In terms of impurities, the dominant shallow acceptors are Zn and possibly C, and the most common deep acceptor is Mn. The best material obtained shows a net electron concentration of 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ with an associated 77K electron mobility of 41,000 cm² /Vsec, implying that the total ionized,impurity concentration is in the range of 3'4 □ 10¹⁵ cm⁻³     

Mass spectroscopy study of GaN metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Metalorganic chemical vapor phase deposition of GaN on (100) GaAs has been studied using mass spectroscopy. With increasing substrate temperature, the amount of decomposed trimethylgallium (TMGa) was observed to increase exponentially with a characteristic energy of 1.5 eV. The presence of NH₃ was found to suppress the production of CH₃ in the gas phase. This implies that CH₃ of TMGa reacts with the hydrogen atom of NH₃, forming CH₄ as a main gas product. Studies of nitrogen evaporation from the growth surface when TMGa flow was off lead to the conclusion that increased growth rate could result in decreased background electron concentration due to nitrogen vacancy. The presence of NH₃ significantly promotes the decomposition of TMGa. Desorption of excess Ga atoms from the growth surface at low NH₃ flow rates takes place as suggested by the increased ratio of peak intensity of Ga (m/e = 69) to that of DMGa ((CH₃)₂Ga, m/e- 99) with decreasing NH₃ flow rate.     

Properties of GaN epitaxial layers grown at high growth rates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

GaN epitaxial layers were grown at high growth rates by increasing the input trimethylgallium (TMG) flow rate while keeping the NH₃ flow rate constant in metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The electrical and optical properties of the grown layers have been investigated. With the increasing TMG flow rate, the electron concentration tends to decrease gradually and the Hall mobility decreases significantly. Considering the temperature dependence of the Hall mobility and the correlation between the Hall mobility and the electron concentration, it has been indicated that the more acceptors are incorporated and consequently the compensation ratio becomes higher with increasing the TMG flow rate. Photoluminescence measurements have revealed that the intensity ratio of the bound exciton emission to the 2.2 eV band emission, which is assumed to correlate to carbon or Ga vacancies, was decreased with increasing the TMG flow rate. It might be reasonable to take a lot of acceptor incorporation to explain the degradation of the electrical and optical properties in the samples grown at high growth rates by increasing the TMG flow rate.     

P- and N-type doping of GaN and AlGaN epitaxial layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Mg- and Si-doped GaN and AlGaN films were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and characterized by room-temperature photoluminescence and Hall-effect measurements. We show that the p-type carrier concentration resulting from Mg incorporation in GaN:Mg films exhibits a nonlinear dependence both on growth temperature and growth pressure. For GaN and AlGaN, n-type doping due to Si incorporation was found to be a linear function of the silane molar flow. Mg-doped GaN layers with 300K hole concentrations p ∼2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and Si-doped GaN films with electron concentrations n∼1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ have been grown. N-type Al_0.10Ga_0.90N:Si films with resistivities as low as p ∼6.6×10⁻³ Ω-cm have been measured.     

Effect of Se-doping on deep impurities in AlxGa1−xAs grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have studied the effect of Se-doping on deep impurities in Al_xGa_1−xAs (x = 0.2∼0.3) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Deep impurities in various Se-doped Al_xGa_1−xAs layers grown on GaAs substrates were measured by deep level transient spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. We have found that the commonly observed oxygen contamination-related deep levels at E_c-0.53 and 0.70 eV and germanium-related level at E_c-0.30 eV in MOCVD grown Al_xGa_1−xAs can be effectively eliminated by Se-doping. In addition, a deep hole level located at E_y + 0.65 eV was found for the first time in Se-doped Al_xGa_1-xAs when Se ≥2 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ or x ≥ 0.25. The concentration of this hole trap increases with increasing Se doping level and Al composition. Under optimized Se-doping conditions, an extremely low deep level density (N_t less than 5 × 10¹² cm⁻³, detection limit) Al_0.22Ga_0.78As layer was achieved. A p-type Al_0.2Ga_0.8As layer with a low deep level density was also obtained by a (Zn, Se) codoping technique.     

The use of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition to prepare device quality Ga(AsP) strained-layer superlattices

Strained-layer superlattices (SLS’s), which consist of thin (<300 Å) alternating layers of Ga(AsP) and GaAs or GaP, have been prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction of the SLS’s indicate that the layers are coherently strained and dislocation free. The mismatch between these very thin layers is totally accommodated by strain for misfits of one percent or less. The layer thickness for the binaries and the ternary is controlled by the TMG flow while the solid composition for the ternary is determined by the arsine/phosphine ratio. The solid composition for a fixed arsine/phosphine ratio is a function of temperature and arsine partial pressure. Uniformly doped SLS’s have properties similar to the ternary of the same composition. A photodiode has been prepared from a GaAs_0.2P_0.8/ GaP SLS with a leakage current of 155 × 10^-6 A/cm² at -5V and a quantum efficiency of 40% at 420 nm.     

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of high optical quality and high mobility GaN

Hall mobilities as high as 702 and 1230 cm²/Vs at 300 and 160K along with low dislocation densities of 4.0 × 10⁸ cm^-2 have been achieved in GaN films grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. High growth temperatures have been established to be crucial for optimal GaN film quality. Photoluminescence measurements revealed a low intensity of the deep defect band around 550 nm in films grown under optimized conditions.     

Growth of direct bandgap GalnP quantum dots on GaP substrates

GaInP has a direct bandgap for In concentrations higher than approximately 30%, and the band-lineup between GaInP and GaP is type-II for In concentrations less than 60%. Therefore, in order to use GaInP as the active light-emitting layer in an optoelectronic device grown on GaP, the strain induced by the lattice mismatch between GaInP and GaP has to be somehow managed such that formation of crystal defects is suppressed. One method is to grow the layer thinner than the critical thickness. Another method that recently received much attention is to grow strain-induced Stranski-Krastanov islands (sometimes referred to as self-assembled quantum dots). Small droplets of highly latticmismatched materials have been embedded into single crystals without generating defects such as threading dislocations and stacking faults using this method. We have grown a series of GaInP/GaP layers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and have studied the light emission from them. Ordered GaInP islands were found to be responsible for the light emission. We present the light emission characteristics of these ordered GaInP/GaP islands, and their dependence on various growth parameters.     

Growth of (GaAs)1_x(Ge2)x by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We report deposition of (GaAs)_{1_x}(Ge₂)_x on GaAs substrates over the entire alloy range. Growth was performed by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition at temperatures of 675 to 750°C, at 50 and 760 Torr, using trimethylgallium, arsine, and germane at rates of 2–10 μ/h. Extrinsic doping was achieved using silane and dimethylzinc in hydrogen. Characterization methods include double-crystal x-ray rocking curve analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, 5K photoluminescence, optical transmission spectra, Hall-effect, and Polaron profiling. Results achieved include an x-ray rocking curve full-width at half maximum as narrow as 12 arc-s, Auger compositions spanning the alloy range from x = 0.03 to x = 0.94, specular surface morphologies, and 5K photoluminescence to wavelengths as long as 1620 nm. Undoped films are n type, with n ≈ 1 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. Extrinsic doping with silane and dimethylzinc have resulted in films which are n type (10¹⁷ to 10¹⁸ cnr⁻³) or p type (5 × 10¹⁸ to 1 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³). Mobilities are generally ≈ 50 cm²/V-s and 500 cm²/V-s, for p and n films, respectively.     

A comparison of TMGa and TEGa for low-temperature metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of CCI4-doped inGaAs

Factors which influence the alloy composition and doping level of CCl₄-doped In_0.53Ga_04.7As grown at low temperatures (450°C < T_g < 560°C) by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been investigated. The composition is highly dependent on substrate temperature due to the preferential etching of In from the surface during growth and the temperature-dependent growth efficiency associated with the Ga source. The lower pyrolysis temperature of TEGa relative to TMGa allows the growth of CCl₄-doped InGaAs at lower growth temperatures than can be achieved using TMGa, and results in improved uniformity. High p-type doping (p ∼ 7 × 10¹⁹ cm^-8) has been achieved in C-doped InGaAs grown at T = 450°C. Secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis of a Cdoping spike in InGaAs before and after annealing at ∼670°C suggests that the diffusivity of C is significantly lower than for Zn in InGaAs. The hole mobilities and electron diffusion lengths in p⁺-InGaAs doped with C are also found to be comparable to those for Be and Zn-doped InGaAs, although it is also found that layers which are highly passivated by hydrogen suffer a degradation in hole mobility. InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a C-doped base exhibit high-frequency performance (f_t = 62 GHz, f_max=42 GHz) comparable to the best reported results for MOCVD-grown InP-based HBTs. These results demonstrate that in spite of the drawbacks related to compositional nonuniformity and hydrogen passivation in CCl₄-doped InGaAs grown by MOCVD, the use of C as a stable p-type dopant and as an alternative to Be and Zn in InP/ InGaAs HBTs appears promising.