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.