A Method of Determining the Liquid Phase Epitaxial GaAs Growth Mechanism Based on Growth Rate Measurements

It has been proved that the dependence of the growth rate V of a LPE GaAs layer on the relative supersaturation σ of the solution at the interphase boundary can be determined on the basis of growth rate measurements of this layer in the case when crystallization is controlled by the kinetics of surface processes. The relation V = f(σ) obtained for homoepitaxial GaAs layers grown at different solution cooling rates are compared with the theoretical relations derived by BRICE making use of a single growth mechanism assumption. Based on the above and by use of the experimental data of MUSZYńSKI the growth mechanism of homoepitaxial GaAs layers on a substrate oriented in the [100] direction is determined. The results are in accordance with the crystallization model of A^IIIB^V semiconductor compounds from the liquid phase proposed by FAUST and JOHN .