InSb epilayers on GaAs(100) for spintronic and magneto-resistive sensor applications

Both magneto-resistive sensors and spintronic hybrid semiconductor devices require thin epitaxial layers of high-mobility InSb. Here we study unintentionally doped InSb epilayers grown on semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy. We have introduced an initial low-temperature growth step extending the work that the NTT group reported in 2000. We find significant improvement in the room temperature mobility for epilayer thickness between 60 and 300 nm. The importance of the initial growth step to the epilayer mobility performance is discussed.