Raman spectroscopy of macroscopic defects of GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Macroscopic defects of the GaAs surface grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been investigated by using a micro-probing method of Raman spectroscopy. Especially, the oval defects, the most common macroscopic defects in MBE GaAs, were focused in this study. In Raman spectroscopy for the oval defect on the (100)GaAs surface, TO phonon mode of the 269 cm^–1 peak was observed. This indicates that the oval defects can include the (111) growth direction or the amorphized surface. The TO/LO intensity ratios for the defects are in the range from 0.3 to 1.0. In the sample grown under the condition that the substrate temperature is 580° C with the As/Ga ratio of 20, the density of the oval defects is about 200 cm^–2 at a growth thickness of 5 m. With increasing thickness of the epilayer, the density and the size of the -tye oval defect increased, while the TO/LO ratio decreased. From the spatial measurement by Raman spectroscopy for the -type oval defect, it is supposed that the -type oval defect remains in a rather good crystalline state and its orientation along the (100) growth direction is much closer to the (111) direction, but the growth direction of the defect might tend toward the (100) direction with a thicker layer.     

Electron diffraction on GaAs nanowhiskers grown on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy

The crystal structure of GaAs nanowhiskers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(111) and Si(100) substrates is investigated using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). It is revealed that, in both cases, the electron diffraction images contain a combination (superposition) of systems of reflections characteristic of the hexagonal (wurtzite and/or 4H polytype) and cubic (sphalerite) phases of the GaAs compound. The growth on the Si(111) substrates leads to the formation of nanowhiskers with hexagonal (wurtzite and/or 4H polytype) and cubic (sphalerite) structures with one and two orientations, respectively. In the case of the Si(100) substrates, the grown array contains GaAs nanowhiskers that have a cubic structure with five different orientations and a hexagonal structure with eight orientations in the (110) planes of the substrate. The formation of the two-phase crystal structure in nanowhiskers is explained by the wurtzite—sphalerite phase transitions and/or twinning of crystallites.     

Raman study of the segregation of GaAs/AlAs heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The Raman spectra of the optical confined phonons in the GaAs/AlAs ultra-thin layer superlattices grown with different growth conditions were used to determine the compositional profiles and to study the process of segregation at the heterointerfaces. A modified kinetic model was developed in order to calculate the compositional profiles in the samples under investigation. The comparison between the experimentally obtained compositional profiles and those calculated by the kinetic model allowed us to determine the parameters characterizing the segregation. It was shown that the increase of pressure of As acts equivalently to the decrease of the growth temperature, resulting in a more abrupt compositional profile.     

Defects in HgCdTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates

The Hall effect and photoluminescence measurements combined with annealing and/or ion milling were used to study the electrical and optical properties of HgCdTe films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates with ZnTe and CdTe buffer layers. Unintentional donor doping, likely from the substrate, which resulted in residual donor concentration of the order of 10¹⁵ cm^?3, was observed in the films. Also, acceptor states, possibly related to structural defects, were observed.     

Properties and structure of GaAs films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates with the (100), (111)A, and (111)B orientations

The structural perfection of GaAs epitaxial films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on substrates with the (100), (111)A, and (111)B orientations is investigated by double-crystal and triple-crystal x-ray diffractometry. It is found that the ratio γ of the molecular fluxes of arsenic and gallium has a strong influence on the structural quality of the epitaxial films. The optimum values of the parameter γ are found for each of the substrate orientations (100), (111)A, and (111)B. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 68–72 (July 1999)     

Photoluminescence of HgCdTe nanostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs

Photoluminescence (PL) of HgCdTe-based hetero-epitaxial nanostructures with 50 to 1100 nm-wide potential wells was studied. The nanostructures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates. A strong degree of alloy disorder was found in the material, which led to the broadening of the PL spectra and a considerable Stokes shift that could be traced up to temperature T～230 K. Annealing of the structures improved the ordering and led to the increase in the PL intensity. A remarkable feature of the PL was an unexpectedly small decrease of its intensity with temperature increasing from 84 to 300 K. This effect can be related to localization of carriers at potential fluctuations and to the specific character of Auger-type processes in HgCdTe-based nanostructures.     

Nucleation and growth during molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of Si on Si(111)

The nucleation of Si on Si(111) has been studied during deposition in UHV by spot profile analysis of low energy electron diffraction (SPA-LEED). A new method of evaluation is developed by separating the measured spot profile into a central spike and a broad shoulder. The energy dependence of the fraction of the central spike out of the total diffracted intensity provides the vertical distribution of surface atoms over different levels. With this method it is shown that the first nucleation occurs in islands of double height. Only after deposition of several layers a layer-by-layer growth is found with a well defined nucleation of a new layer before the former one is completed.     

Photoemission from valence bands of GaAs(001) grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Angle-resolved photoemission measurements for GaAs(001) prepared by MBE have been carried out using synchroton radiation. Observed bulk features in the spectra can be explained by a direct transition model using free-electron-like final states down to energies as low as 16 eV above the top of the valence bands. Spectral bulk valence band features can be distinguished from surface features by an appropriate choice of photon energies and polar angles. This is demonstrated using calculated valence bands.     

Coevaporation phosphorus doping in Si grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Phosphorus-doped Si epilayers with bulk-like mobilities were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (Si-MBE) by coevaporation of phosphorus from a tin phosphide source. The behaviour of P doping as a function of growth parameters and of potential enhanced doping indicates a non-unity, almost growth-temperature independent incorporation efficiency with negligible surface segregation -a unique combination among coevaporated dopants in Si-MBE.     

Growth and optical properties of filamentary GaN nanocrystals grown on a hybrid SiC/Si(111) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

The potential to grow filamentary GaN nanocrystals by molecular beam epitaxy on a silicon substrate with a nanosized buffer layer of silicon carbide has been demonstrated. Morphological and optical properties of the obtained system have been studied. It has been shown that the intensity of the photoluminescence spectrum peak of such structures is higher than that of the best filamentary GaN nanocrystals without the buffer silicon carbide layer by a factor of more than two.     

Columnar AlGaN/GaN nanocavities with AlN/GaN Bragg reflectors grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Si(111)

Self-assembled columnar AlGaN/GaN nanocavities, with an active region of GaN quantum disks embedded in an AlGaN nanocolumn and cladded by top and bottom AlN/GaN Bragg mirrors, were grown. The nanocavity has no cracks or extended defects, due to the relaxation at the Si interface and to the nanocolumn free-surface to volume ratio. The emission from the active region matched the peak reflectivity by tuning the Al content and the GaN disks thickness. Quantum confinement effects that depend on both the disk thickness and the inhomogeneous strain distribution within the disks are clearly observed.     

Synthesis of aligned GaN nanorods on Si (111) by molecular beam epitaxy

Straight and well-aligned GaN nanorods have been successfully synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. The GaN nanorods have been characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). SEM images show that GaN nanorods are constituted with two parts of which shapes are different from each other. The upper part of the nanorod is very thin and its lower part is relatively thick. The XRD and EDS analysis have identified that the nanorods are pure hexagonal GaN with single crystalline wurtzite structure. The TEM images indicate that the nanorods are well crystallized and nearly free from defects. The XRD, HRTEM, and SAED pattern reveal that the growth direction of GaN nanorods is 〈0001〉. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate the good emission property for the nanorods. Finally, we have demonstrated about the two-step growth of the nanorods. PACS 81.07.Bc; 81.05.Ea; 81.15.Hi     

Vacancy-impurity complexes in highly Sb-doped Si grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Positron annihilation measurements, supported by first-principles electron-structure calculations, identify vacancies and vacancy clusters decorated by 1-2 dopant impurities in highly Sb-doped Si. The concentration of vacancy defects increases with Sb doping and contributes significantly to the electrical compensation. Annealings at low temperatures of 400-500 K convert the defects to larger complexes where the open volume is neighbored by 2-3 Sb atoms. This behavior is attributed to the migration of vacancy-Sb pairs and demonstrates at atomic level the metastability of the material grown by epitaxy at low temperature.     

Study of the structural perfection and distribution/redistribution of silicon in epitaxial GaAs films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (100), (111)A, and (111)B substrates

Silicon distribution before and after thermal annealing in thin doped GaAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (100)-, (111)A-, (111)B-oriented substrates is studied by X-ray diffraction and SIMS. The surface morphology of the epitaxial films inside and outside an ion etch crater that arises during SIMS measurements is studied by atomic force microscopy. Distinctions in the surface relief inside the crater for different orientations have been revealed. Observed differences in the doping profiles are explained by features of the surface relief developing in the course of ion etching in SIMS measurements and by enhanced Si diffusion via growth defects.     

Self-organized in-plane incorporation of Si atoms in GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

The preferential attachment of Si atoms at misorientation steps on vicinal GaAs(001) surfaces has been studied by RHEED. By analysing the time evolution of the specular beam intensity and the change in surface reconstruction during Si deposition we show that a self-organized Si incorporation along the step edges takes place. The observed (3×2) structure is due to an ordered array of dimerized Si atoms with missing dimer rows. Taking into account the structure of the (3×2) unit mesh and its orientation with respect to the As-terminated or Ga-terminated steps, a characteristic minimum in the RHEED intensity recording corresponds to the number of Ga step-edge sites. Since the preferential path for Ga as well as for Si adatom diffusion is along the [110] direction, the critical terrace width for wirelike Si attachment is much larger for a misorientation toward (111)As than for a misorientation toward (111)Ga. Despite the high local impurity concentration, the Si-modified surface can be overgrown with GaAs without adverse effects on the growth front. This is promising for the fabrication of doping wires.     

Improvedp/n junctions in Ge-doped GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy

The effects of single-pulse ruby laser irradiation have been investigated in Si samples with disorder layers located at a depth of 2000 Å from the crystal surface and extending up to 8000 Å. This disorder was obtained by implantation with 350 keV N⁺ to a fluence of 2×10¹⁶/cm². Channeling, diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the structure of the irradiated layers. After 1.5 J/cm² irradiation the damaged layer reorders partially, while for about 2.0J/cm² the surface single crystal becomes polycrystalline. At a higher energy density all the material undergoes the transition to single crystal. Calculations based on the liquid model accounts in part for the experimental results.     

Fabrication of quantum wires and dots on GaAs (111)A patterned substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Flat GaAs/AlGaAs multilayers without any extra facets were successfully grown on ridge-type triangles with (021)-related sidewalls having an inverted mesa on GaAs (111)A substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The result was obtained on the basis of the large difference in the growth rate between the [111]A and [01̄1] directions. Fabrication of quantum dots on ridge-type triangles and hexagons with smaller sizes and quantum wires on stripes running in the [1̄1̄2]A direction was proposed.