High quality Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 topological insulators films were epitaxially grown on GaAs (111) substrate using solid source molecular beam epitaxy. Their growth and behavior on both vicinal and non-vicinal GaAs (111) substrates were investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is found that non-vicinal GaAs (111) substrate is better than a vicinal substrate to provide high quality Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 films. Hall and magnetoresistance measurements indicate that p type Sb2Te3 and n type Bi2Te3 topological insulator films can be directly grown on a GaAs (111) substrate, which may pave a way to fabricate topological insulator p-n junction on the same substrate, compatible with the fabrication process of present semiconductor optoelectronic devices.

Here, we demonstrate X-ray fitting through kinematical simulations of the intensity profiles of symmetric reflections for epitaxial compositionally graded layers of AlGaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy pseudomorphically on [0001]-oriented GaN substrates. These detailed simulations depict obvious differences between changes in thickness, maximum concentration, and concentration profile of the graded layers. Through comparison of these simulations with as-grown samples, we can reliably determine these parameters, most important of which are the profiles of the concentration and strain which determine much of the electrical properties of the film. In addition to learning about these parameters for the characterization of thin film properties, these fitting techniques create opportunities to calibrate growth rates and control composition profiles of AlGaN layers with a single growth rather than multiple growths as has been done traditionally.

We experimentally demonstrate that the conductivity of graded AlGaN increases as a function of the magnitude of the Al concentration gradient (%Al/nm) due to polarization doping effects, without the use of impurity dopants. Using three up/down-graded AlGaN nanolayers with Al gradients ranging from ∼0.16 to ∼0.28%Al/nm combined in one structure, the effects of polarization engineering for localized electric fields and current transport were investigated. Cross-sectional Kelvin probe force microscopy and conductive atomic force microscopy were used to directly probe the electrical properties of the films with spatial resolution along the thickness of the growth. The experimental profiles of the built-in electric fields and the spreading current found in the graded layers are shown to be consistent with simulations of the field distribution as well as of the electron and hole densities. Finally, it was directly observed that for gradients less than 0.28%Al/nm the native n-type donors still limit polarization-induced hole doping, making p-type conductivity still a challenge due to background impurities and defects.

Plastic strain relaxation in epitaxial layers is one of the crucial factors that limits the performance of III-nitride-based heterostructures. In this work, we report on strain relaxation and crystalline defects in heterostructures consisting of compositionally graded AlGaN epitaxial layers tensile-strained between a GaN-buffer and a GaN-cap. We demonstrate the effects of Al concentration and the shape of the concentration-depth profile in the buried graded layers on the accumulated elastic strain energy and how this influences the critical thickness for crack generation or fracture. It is shown that this fracture leads to the formation of partially relaxed regions with their degree of strain relaxation directly related to the density of cracks. Nevertheless, even though the in-plane coherency between the AlGaN layer and the GaN-buffer is broken, the in-plane coherency within the AlGaN layer is preserved for all regions. Furthermore, the tensile strain released in the buried graded AlGaN layers is consistent with compressive strain induced in the GaN-cap layers. Finally, the localized stress and the densities of threading dislocations are correlated with the features of the resulting fractured heterostructures. These results are important toward the control of complex plastic strain relaxation and further facilitate the growth of high quality compositionally graded AlGaN-based devices.