Formation of uniform GaAs multi-atomic steps with 20–30 nm periodicity and related structures on vicinal (111)B planes by MBE

We studied morphology of GaAs surfaces and the transport properties of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) on vicinal (111)B planes. Multi-atomic steps (MASs) are found on the vicinal (111)B facet grown by molecular beam epitaxy, which will affect electron transport on the facet. We also studied how the morphology of GaAs epilayers on vicinal (111)B substrates depends on growth conditions, especially on the As₄ flux. The uniformity of MASs on the substrates have been improved and smooth surfaces were obtained when the GaAs was grown with high As₄ flux, providing step periodicity of 20 nm. The channel resistance of the 2DEG perpendicular to the MASs is reduced drastically with this smooth morphology. These findings are valuable not only for fabricating quantum devices on the (111)B facets but also those on the vicinal (111)B substrates.     

Structural and photoluminescence properties of low-temperature GaAs grown on GaAs(100) and GaAs(111)A substrates

Undoped, uniformly Si-doped, and δ-Si-doped GaAs layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on (100)- and (111)A-oriented GaAs substrates at a temperature of 230°C are studied. The As₄ pressure is varied. The surface roughness of the sample is established by atomic-force microscopy; the crystal quality, by X-ray diffraction measurements; and the energy levels of different defects, by photoluminescence spectroscopy at a temperature of 79 K. It is shown that the crystal structure is more imperfect in the case of GaAs(111)A substrates. The effect of the As₄ flux during growth on the structure of low-temperature GaAs grown on different types of substrates is shown as well.     

用MOCVD在偏(100)GaAs基片上生长空间规则排列的1.3μm InAs量子点

用MOCVD技术在偏(1100)GaAs衬底上生长了发光波长在1.3μm的线状空间规则排列InAs量子点.光致发光实验表明,相对于正(100)衬底,偏(100)GaAs衬底上生长的InAs量子点具有更好的材料质量,光谱有更大的强度和更窄的线宽.为了得到发光波长为1.3μm的量子点,对比研究了不同In含量的InGaAs应力缓冲层(SBL)和应力盖层(SCL)的应力缓冲作用.结果表明,增加SCL中In含量能有效延伸量子点发光波长到1. 3μm,但是随着SBL中In的增加,发光波长变化不明显,并且材料质量明显下降.     

Growth optimization and optical properties of GaAs-(Ga,Al)As quantum well structures on UV-ozone prepared nominal (111)B GaAs surfaces

GaAs and (Ga,Al)As---GaAs quantum well (QW) structures have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on nominal (111)B oriented GaAs substrates. The substrate preparation technique involving UV-ozone oxidation was observed to lead to a rough surface after oxide desorption. Mirror-like layer surfaces have nevertheless been achieved by applying a careful procedure during the first stages of growth in order to recover surface flatness. New evidence of planarization is presented, based on the frequency analysis of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) intensity oscillations during growth. QWs grown at a moderate substrate temperature (about 610°C) have been obtained with sharp excitonic transitions whose photoluminescence (PL) emission linewidths are comparable to those obtained on misoriented (111)B substrates. In contrast, the use of higher substrate temperatures was found to provide rougher interfaces due to GaAs sublimation during growth interruption at each interface, as revealed by continuous wave and time-resolved PL measurements.     

TEM study of the effect of growth interruption in MBE of InGaP/GaAs superlattices

The influence of growth interruption during the MBE growth of (100) In_0.5Ga_0.5P/GaAs superlattices is investigated by cross-sectional TEM. A roughening of the growth front is observed during an interruption after the exchange of the group-V molecular beams. The roughening of growth front occurs due to a spontaneous change in the growth orientation of the superlattice from [100] to 〈311〉 directions. This change in growth orientation is characterized by an initial formation of V-shaped grooves with {311} facets on the GaAs growth front which eventually lead to the formation of regions of {311} superlattice structures. The direction of V-shaped grooves is along the [011] axis, which is parallel to the surface dangling bonds of the group V atoms in the unreconstructed (100) plane. The most critical stage for the spontaneous change of the growth orientation is the interruption after the growth of a GaAs layer with the P₂ flux.     

(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.     

Morphological instabilities during homoepitaxy on vicinal GaAs(110) surfaces

Growth of GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy on (110) substrates vicinal to (111)A has been systematically studied by atomic force and Nomarski microscopy at different As/Ga flux ratios, substrate temperatures and growth rates. Depending on the growth conditions, a striking variety of morphological instabilities have been found that range from step bunching in the Ga-supply limited regime to creation of long-range, well-ordered patterns of three-dimensional pyramidal features on the surface under As-deficient conditions. We discuss the microscopic origin of the morphological instabilities and self-organization of the surface features in terms of growth modes, relative adatom populations and step-attachment probabilities.     

Specific features of epitaxial-film formation on porous III–V substrates

Porous GaAs (100) and (111) substrates with nanostructured (～10 nm) surface profiles are obtained in which pores branching in the 〈111〉 direction form a dense network with a volume density of ～60% under the surface at a depth of ～(50–100) nm. The surface of the substrates and the structure of GaSb layers grown on these substrates are studied. A decrease of 22% in the lattice-parameter mismatch at the GaSb/GaAs(porous) interface compared with that at the GaSb/GaAs(monolithic) interface is observed. Ideas about the chemical mechanisms of pore formation in III–V crystals are developed, and relations connecting the structure of porous layers to the composition of electrolytes and anodization conditions are established. It is shown that the dependence of the layers’ growth rate on lattice elastic strain can be conducive to an enhanced overgrowth of pores and to a transition to planar growth.     

Interactions of dislocations and antiphase (inversion) domain boundaries in III–V/IV heteroepitaxy

The potential for interactions of misfit strain relieving dislocations with inversion-type antiphase domain boundaries is considered for III–V on group IV growth. The specific cases of GaAs grown on Si (001) and vicinal (001) substrates are examined. It is shown that threading dislocation densities for these growths should be unacceptably high due to obstruction of threading dislocation motion by the antiphase domain boundaries, even when the boundaries are eliminated shortly after the inception of GaAs layer growth. Cutting of the antiphase domain boundaries by mobile dislocations would require creation of new highenergy surface area. It is suggested that more successful routes would be growth of a strain-relieving buffer or growth on a {hhk} surface.     

Optimization of the temperature mode of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition of the InAs(N) quantum dots on GaAs (001) with intense photoluminescence at 1.3 μm

The growth of the InAs(N) quantum dots on GaAs in a reduced-pressure reactor of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is studied. As the nitrogen source, dimethylhydrazine is used. It is currently well-known that the growth temperature of the InGaAs quantum dots should be limited in order to avoid undesirable In and Ga interdiffusion as well as reevaporation of In. However, thick GaAs barrier layers should be grown at the elevated temperature because of the pronounced effect of the growth temperature on the optical quality of the structure. An increase in the temperature of the substrate holder by 100°C requires interrupting the process in the MOCVD reactor for approximately 2 min. The time of this interruption for the temperature rise can come at various stages of the process, namely, (i) after growing the quantum dots and prior to growing the InGaAs coating layer, (ii) during the growth of the coating layer, (iii) after growing the coating layer and before growing the GaAs barrier layer, and (iv) during the growth of the GaAs barrier layer. It is shown that the last variant is the most appropriate for the structures with intense photoluminescence at 1.3 μm. In this case, the thin initial part of the barrier layer is grown under reduced temperature.     

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.     

Investigation of distribution and redistribution of silicon in thin doped gallium-arsenide layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on substrates with (100), (111)Ga, and (111)As orientations

The distribution of silicon in GaAs was investigated by secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) before and after the thermal annealing of thin doped GaAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on substrates with (100), (111)Ga, and (111)As orientations. The surface relief pattern of the grown epitaxial films was studied by atomic-force microscopy both inside and outside the ion-etching crater developed during the SIMS analysis. Features of the surface relief inside the crater are revealed for various orientations. Changes observed in the shape of doping profiles are explained both by the features of the development of the surface relief during the ion etching accompanying the SIMS analysis and by an accelerated diffusion of Si over the growth defects.     

Molecular-beam epitaxy of mercury-cadmium-telluride solid solutions on alternative substrates

Growth processes were considered for heteroepitaxial structures based on a mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) solid solution deposited on GaAs and Si alternative substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy. Physical and chemical processes of growth and defect-generation mechanisms were studied for CdZnTe epitaxy on atomically clean singular and vicinal surfaces of gallium-arsenide substrates and CdHgTe films on CdZnTe/GaAs surfaces. ZnTe single-crystalline films were grown on silicon substrates. Methods for reducing the content of defects in CdZnTe/GaAs and CdHgTe films were developed. Equipment for molecular-beam epitaxy was designed for growing the heteroepitaxial structures on large-diameter substrates with a highly uniform composition over the area and their control in situ. Heteroepitaxial MCT layers with excellent electrical parameters were grown on GaAs by molecular-beam epitaxy.     

Incorporation behaviour of carbon and silicon on (100) and (111) surfaces during growth of GaAs/GaAs and Ga0.47In0.53As/InP by molecular beam epitaxy

Silicon and carbontetrabromide were used as dopant sources in the growth of GaAs/GaAs and Ga_0.47In_0.53As/InP structures. We studied the incorporation behaviour of these group IV atoms on (100) and {111} surfaces as a function of growth temperature. The free carver concentrations determined by Hall measurements for Si-doped GaAs and Ga_0.47In_0.53As layers are independent of growth temperature on all surface orientations studied. Silicon acts fundamentally as a donor except, as expected, for doped layers on (111)A GaAs substrates, where it acts as an acceptor. Carbon incorporation in GaAs and Ga_0.47In_0.53As always results in a p-type conduction independent of the surface orientations (100)/{111} or the growth temperatures we used. In contrast to the results on GaAs, carbon shows a strong temperature-dependent activation in Ga_0.47In_0.53As grown on (100) and (111)B surfaces. Carbon-doped Ga_0.47In_0.53As on (111)A and carbon-doped GaAs layers on (100)/{111} GaAs surfaces exhibit only a very weak dependence of the carrier concentration on the growth temperature. A significant amphoteric behaviour of carbon was not observed in any of the materials investigated.     

Electron transport and optical properties of structures with atomic tin nanowires on vicinal GaAs substrates

Electron transport and optical properties are studied for structures with atomic tin nanowires (Sn-NWs) on vicinal GaAs substrates with misorientation angles of 0.3 and 3° with respect to the exact (100) orientation. Saturation-current anisotropy is revealed in the current–voltage characteristics of the samples for current flows along (‖ orientation) and across (⊥ orientation) the Sn-NWs: the current ratios I_‖/I_⊥ are ～1.2 and ～2.5 for homostructures and pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) structures, respectively. The effect of the pulling voltage and illumination on current oscillations is studied in real time in the case of current flows perpendicular to the Sn-NWs. Clear anisotropy of the PHEMT frequency characteristics is shown.     

Direct MBE growth of GaN on GaAs substrates for integrated short wavelength emitters

The growth and material properties of GaN heteroepitaxial layers on vicinal (1 0 0) and exact (1 1 1)B substrates have been investigated, using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with N₂ RF-plasma source. We examined the approach to grow GaN directly on the oxide desorbed GaAs, without the incidence of an As beam during oxide desorption or the following stages of growth. Perfect smooth surfaces were obtained on (1 1 1)B GaAs but excellent luminescence properties were observed on vicinal (1 0 0) GaAs. Four growth temperatures (T_G) were compared for the (1 0 0) orientation and a monotonic increase of photoluminescence intensity with increasing T_G, in the range of 570–680°C, was observed. The best surface morphology of less than 10 nm rms roughness was also determined, by atomic force microscopy, for the maximum (680°C) temperature. The layers exhibited up to 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ electron concentration and it could be compensated by Mg impurities. Metallizations of Pt and Pd gave ohmic contacts on GaN/GaAs (1 0 0) but a Schottky diode contact was achieved by Ir metallization. The obtained material properties are probably sufficient for realizing efficient GaN light emitters on (1 0 0) GaAs substrates.     

Influence of Substrate Misorientation on the Composition and the Structural and Photoluminescence Properties of Epitaxial Layers Grown on GaAs(100)

The influence of the degree of misorientation and treatment of a GaAs substrate on the structural and optical characteristics of homoepitaxial GaAs/GaAs(100) structures grown by metal–organic chemicalvapor deposition is studied. From the data obtained by a series of structural and spectroscopic techniques, it is shown that the degree of deviation of the substrate from the exact orientation towards the [110] direction by an angle of up to 4° brings about stepwise growth of the GaAs film in the initial stage and a further increase in the degree of misorienration towards the [110] direction to 10° results in an increase in the number of structural defects in the epitaxial film. At the same time, the samples of homoepitaxial structures grown by metal–organic chemical-vapor deposition on GaAs(100) substrates misoriented by 4° towards the [110] direction possess the highest photoluminescence efficiency; it is ~15% higher than the corresponding quantity for structures grown on precisely oriented GaAs(100) substrates. Preliminary polishing of the GaAs substrate (removal of an oxide layer) also yields the intensification of photoluminescence emission compared to emission in the case of an unpolished substrate of the same type. For samples grown on substrates misoriented by 4°, such an increase in the photoluminescence efficiency is ~30%.     

Comparison of MBE Growth of InSb on Si (001) and GaAs (001)

We describe the epitaxial growth of InSb films on both Si (001) and GaAs (100) substrates using molecular-beam epitaxy and discuss the structural and electrical properties of the resulting films. The complete 2 μm InSb films on GaAs (001) were grown at temperatures between 340°C and 420°C and with an Sb/In flux ratio of approximately 5 and a growth rate of 0.2 nm/s. The films were characterized in terms of background electron concentration, mobility, and x-ray rocking curve width. Our best results were for a growth temperature of 350°C, resulting in room-temperature mobility of 41,000 cm²/V s.  For the growth of InSb on Si, vicinal Si(001) substrates offcut by 4° toward (110) were used. We investigated growth temperatures between 340°C and 430°C for growth on Si(001). In contrast to growth on GaAs, the best results were achieved at the high end of the range of T _S =  C, resulting in a mobility of 26,100 cm²/V s for a 2 μm film. We also studied the growth and properties of InSb:Mn films on GaAs with Mn content below 1%. Our results showed the presence of ferromagnetic ordering in the samples, opening a new direction in the diluted magnetic semiconductors.     

Direct growth of CdZnTe/Si substrates for large-area HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays

Direct epitaxial growth of high-quality 100lCdZnTe on 3 inch diameter vicinal {100}Si substrates has been achieved using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); a ZnTe initial layer was used to maintain the {100} Si substrate orientation. The properties of these substrates and associated HgCdTe layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and subsequently processed long wavelength infrared (LWIR) detectors were compared directly with our related efforts using CdZnTe/ GaAs/Si substrates grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The MBE-grown CdZnTe layers are highly specular and have both excellent thickness and compositional uniformity. The x-ray full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the MBE-grown CdZnTe/Si increases with composition, which is a characteristic of CdZnTe grown by vapor phase epitaxy, and is essentially equivalent to our results obtained on CdZnTe/GaAs/Si. As we have previously observed, the x-ray FWHM of LPE-grown HgCdTe decreases, particularly for CdZnTe compositions near the lattice matching condition to HgCdTe; so far the best value we have achieved is 54 arc-s. Using these MBE-grown substrates, we have fabricated the first high-performance LWIR HgCdTe detectors and 256 x 256 arrays using substrates consisting of CdZnTe grown directly on Si without the use of an intermediate GaAs buffer layer. We find first that there is no significant difference between arrays fabricated on either CdZnTe/Si or CdZnTe/GaAs/Si and second that the results on these Si-based substrates are comparable with results on bulk CdZnTe substrates at 78K. Further improvements in detector performance on Si-based substrates require a decrease in the dislocation density.     

Photoluminescence Studies of Si-Doped Epitaxial GaAs Films Grown on (100)- and (111)A-Oriented GaAs Substrates at Lowered Temperatures

The electrical properties and photoluminescence features of uniformly Si-doped GaAs layers grown on GaAs substrates with the (100) and (111)A crystallographic orientations of the surface are studied. The samples are grown at the same As₄ pressure in the growth temperature range from 350 to 510°C. The samples grown on GaAs(100) substrates possess n-type conductivity in the entire growth temperature range, and the samples grown on GaAs(111)A substrates possess p-type conductivity in the growth temperature range from 430 to 510°C. The photoluminescence spectra of the samples exhibit an edge band and an impurity band. The edge photoluminescence band corresponds to the photoluminescence of degenerate GaAs with n- and p-type conductivity. The impurity photoluminescence band for samples on GaAs(100) substrates in the range 1.30–1.45 eV is attributed to V_As defects and Si_As–V_As defect complexes, whose concentration varies with sample growth temperature. Transformation of the impurity photoluminescence spectra of the samples on GaAs(111)A substrates is interpreted as being a result of changes in the V_As and V_Ga defect concentrations under variations in the growth temperature of the samples.