Screw misfit dislocations in soft substrates of epitaxial heterostructures

We derive compact analytical formulae for the elastic field induced by an anti-plane mismatch deformation in a heterostructure with different elastic moduli of the constituents. Unlike previous studies, we consider the possibility that the misfit dislocations may appear in the substrate, not in the epilayer. We show that this situation can be realized in heterostructures where the substrate is softer than the epilayer. In order to avoid cumbersome calculations, we consider screw misfit dislocations. The misfit dislocations emerge with zero density away from the interface in the body of the substrate when the epilayer reaches its critical thickness. Thus the epilayer remains free from dislocations if it is grown on a softer substrate. This property, which was recently observed experimentally, may find numerous applications in electronics, where epilayers are widely used as active elements.     

Simulation of the indium profile in InGaAs/GaAs quantum-size heterostructures

A new approach to describe phenomena attendant on the growth of thin InGaAs epitaxial layers by hydride MOCVD in terms of which the boundary gas layer is considered as quasi-liquid is suggested. A numerical model for simulating the concentration profiles of the components in quantum-well heterostructures is developed. It is based on the assumption that a state close to thermodynamic equilibrium exists near the interface. The concentration profiles are simulated by jointly solving equations that describe heterogeneous equilibria and material balance at the interface. The indium profiles in InGaAs/GaAs quantum-size heterostructures are simulated at various parameters of the epitaxy process, such as temperature, initial component ratio in the gas phase, and boundary layer thickness. The results obtained agree well with the available experimental data.     

Formation of spin light-emitting diodes based on InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures containing ferromagnetic inclusions

The electroluminescence of light-emitting diodes based on heterostructures with InGaAs quantum wells and a delta 〈Mn〉 doped layer in the GaAs barrier is studied. It is shown that the diodes emit circularly polarized light with the degree of polarization depending on the applied magnetic field and on temperature. We assume that the temperature dependences of the degree of polarization are determined by a change in the mutual position of energy levels of Mn ions in the delta layer and of holes in a quantum well.     

Two groups of misfit dislocations in GaAs on Si

High-resolution cross-sectional and conventional plan-view transmission electron microscope observations have been carried out for molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAs films on vicinal Si (001) before and after annealing as a function of film thicknesses and observation directions between two orthogonal 110 directions. Two groups of misfit dislocations are characterized at the interface regions between GaAs and Si by analyzing whether their extra half planes exist in the film or the substrate side. Group I misfit dislocations due to stress caused by a lattice misfit between GaAs and Si consist of partial dislocations and 60° and 90° complete dislocations in an as-grown state. With an increase in the film thickness, partial dislocations decrease and complete dislocations increase. After annealing, partial dislocations almost completely disappear and 90° perfect dislocations are predominantly observed. Group II misfit dislocations due to thermal-expansion misfit-induced stress are all 60°-type complete dislocations regardless of film thicknesses and annealing treatment.On leave from Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo 185, Japan     

The surface and interface nucleation of misfit dislocations as a possible source of asymmetric strain relaxation in vicinal heterostructures

The surface nucleation of misfit dislocations in vicinal (001) oriented heterostructures with compressive and tensile stresses is discussed. It is shown that beside the asymmetrical stressing of opposite dislocation slip planes due to the vicinal substrate, the surface steps have a similar effect. The effect of the steps has the same-sign asymmetry for a compressive stressed epilayer, but opposite for the tensile case. The effect on dislocation nucleation energy is calculated. For miscut angles used normally, the step energy contribution exceeds that of due to the vicinal substrate. The extension to interface nucleation is treated qualitatively.     

Effect of hydrogen on modulation-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures: a photoluminescence study

The effect of hydrogen on donors and interface defects in silicon modulation doped Al_xGa_1−xAs/In_yGa_1−yAs/GaAs heterostructures has been investigated by photoluminescence (PL). Hydrogenation was carried out on two sets of samples, one set consists of high quality pseudomorphic heterostructures and another set having partially lattice relaxed structures prone to the defects. On exposure of high quality pseudomorphic structures to hydrogen plasma above 150 °C, a significant blue shift in the PL peak positions as well as bandwidth narrowing is observed. This indicates, the reduction in two-dimensional electron gas in the In_yGa_1−yAs quantum well due to hydrogen passivation of silicon donors in the Al_xGa_1−xAs supply layer. The reactivation of the donors is observed upon annealing the hydrogenated sample for 1 h at 250 °C under hydrogen ambient. Another interesting feature is a significant improvement in the PL of lattice-relaxed structures upon hydrogenation of the samples above 250 °C, which is attributed to the hydrogen passivation of interface defects due to the misfit dislocations.     

Generation and evolution of partial misfit dislocations and stacking faults in thin-film heterostructures

An analysis is made of the specific features in the generation and evolution of partial misfit dislocations at the vertices of V-shaped configurations of stacking fault bands, which terminate in the bulk of the growing film at 90° partial Shockley dislocations. The critical thicknesses h _c of an epitaxial film, at which generation of such defect configurations becomes energetically favorable, are calculated. It is shown that at small misfits, the first to be generated are perfect misfit dislocations and at large misfits, partial ones, which are located at the vertices of V-shaped stacking-fault band configurations emerging onto the film surface. Possible further evolution of stacking-fault band configurations with increasing film thickness are studied.     

Excitation energy dependence of the optical properties of InGaAs/GaAs quantum well heterostructures

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We report an experimental study on a large set of InGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures by means of continuous-wave photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation. The...     

Dependence of the heavy-hole exciton reduced mass on quantum-well size in InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures

We present low temperature photoluminescence investigations of the exciton ground state of In_0.14Ga_0.86As/GaAs quantum wells (QW) in the presence of pulsed magnetic fields up to 50 T. The exciton in-plane reduced mass and the heavy-hole in-plane mass are determined from the best fit of theoretical calculations to the magnetic field dependence of PL peaks. When the QW thickness decreases, their masses increases due to valence-band mixing effect.     

Triple-period partial misfit dislocations at the InN/GaN (0001) interface: A new dislocation core structure for III-N materials

The lattice-misfit InN/GaN (0001) interface supports a triangular network of α-core 90° partial misfit dislocations. These misfit dislocations provide excellent strain relief. However, in their unreconstructed form the dislocation contains numerous high-energy N dangling bonds, which must be eliminated by reconstructing the dislocation core. Existing single-period (SP) and double-period (DP) dislocation reconstruction models eliminate these dangling bonds via a like-atom dimerization, such as N-N dimers. However, we show that these N–N dimers are unstable for the III-N materials, so an entirely new reconstruction mechanism is needed. A “triple-period” (TP) structural model is developed which eliminates N dangling bonds via the formation of N vacancies instead of N-N dimers. The model contains no N–N (or III–III) bonds, fully bonds all N atoms to four group-III neighboring atoms, and satisfies the “electron counting rule” by transferring charge from In dangling bonds to Ga dangling bonds.     

Combined cross-sectional STM/AFM in liquid: Study of InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with quantum wells and dots

Combined scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy (STM/AFM) of cross-sectional cleavages in a protective liquid medium (oil) is applied to study InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with quantum wells and dots. It is shown that the quantum wells and dots can be visualized on cleavages in both AFM and STM modes and to measure the current-voltage characteristics of the contact between an AFM probe and the cleavage surface.     

Raman scattering and photoluminescence studies of two-dimensional electron systems in Ge/GaAs heterostructures

Resonant Raman scattering experiments on n-Ge/n-GaAs (100) heterostructures reveal transitions involving quasi-two-dimensional electron states in Ge-accumulation layers. The experiments were performed in the range of the E₁-gap of Ge. The electronic scattering transforms into E₁-luminescence as the laser energy is tuned above the resonance. Spectra obtained at higher excitation energies show luminescence bands associated with the E₁ and E₁ + Δ₁-gap of Ge. The latter results are compared with recent data for bulk heavily-doped Ge.     

Catastrophic degradation of pulsed lasers based on AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with electron-beam pumping

Catastrophic degradation of pulsed lasers based on InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs structures with different design of the active domain with transverse pumping by the electron beam at T = 300 K is studied. In lasers based on structures with a InGaAs single quantum well and with seven quantum wells, the maximal values of pulsed power are 70–90 and 10–20 W, respectively.