Phase diagram calculation for epitaxial growth of GaInAs on InP considering the surface, interfacial and strain energies

In order to know the effects of the surface, interfacial and strain energies on the calculation of the phase diagram, these energies were calculated for the Ga_xIn_1−xAs/InP structure and the Ga–In–As ternary phase diagram for the epitaxial growth of GaInAs on (1 1 1) InP was determined. The layer-thickness dependence of the liquidus temperature and solidus composition was determined. It was found that the liquidus and solidus phases were strongly influenced by these energies when the layer thickness was thinner than about 0.06 μm. The consideration of the effects of the surface, interfacial and strain energies is effective to explain the peculiar behavior of the experimental results near the lattice-matched composition (x=0.47), which is called the latching effect.