Growth of Metamorphic InGaAs on GaAs (111)A: Counteracting Lattice Mismatch by Inserting a Thin InAs Interlayer

Abstract

We have successfully grown high quality In x Ga1–x As metamorphic layer on GaAs (111)­A using molecular beam epitaxy. Inserting a thin 3.0–7.1 monolayer (ML) InAs interlayer between the In0.25Ga0.75As and GaAs allowed the formation of a nearly lattice-relaxed In0.25Ga0.75As with a very flat upper surface. However, when the thickness of the inserted InAs is thinner or thicker than these values, we observed degradation of crystal quality and/or surface morphology. We also revealed this technique to be applicable to the formation of a high quality metamorphic In x Ga1–x As layer with a range of In compositions (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.78) on GaAs (111)­A. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscope studies revealed that misfit dislocations formed only at the interface of InAs and GaAs, not at the interface of In0.25Ga0.75As and InAs. From the dislocation density analysis, it is suggested that the dislocation density was decreased by growing In0.25Ga0.75As on InAs, which effectively contribute the strain relaxation of In0.25Ga0.75As. The InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells that were formed on the metamorphic layers exhibit clear photoluminescence emissions up to room temperature.

Strain Relaxation in GaSb/GaAs(111)A Heteroepitaxy Using Thin InAs Interlayers

“…11 The growth with InAs layers is also effective to improve the crystalline quality and surface morphology of the In 0.25 Ga 0.75 As film on the GaAs(111)A substrate. 12 This paper presents a systematic study on the GaSb heteropitaxy on GaAs(111)A using the InAs interlayer. We found that the strain evolution and growth mode drastically change with the InAs layer thickness.…”

Exciton Dynamics in Droplet Epitaxial Quantum Dots Grown on (311)A-Oriented Substrates

“…In other QDs we measured values between 30 and 140 eV (not shown). These values are very large if compared with QDs grown on (111) substrates, where the three-fold symmetry of the crystal provides a more isotropic surface diffusion and a corresponding triangular or hexagonal nanostructure shape [ 26 , 27 , 35 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 61 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. The origin of this splitting in (311)A QDs is attributed to asymmetries in the QDs shape that is affected by the anisotropy of the underlying crystal.…”

“…Within this class of QDs, droplet epitaxy (DE) [ 10 , 13 , 14 ] and droplet etching [ 9 , 15 , 16 ] (alternative growth protocols to Stranski–Krastanov for strain-free III–V-based semiconductor nanostructures), enabled the fabrication of state-of-the-art devices such as lasers [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] and quantum emitters, including single-photon sources [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] and entangled photons [ 9 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ] with electrical injection [ 31 ]. The versatility of this method allowed to grow many different semiconductor alloys (GaInSb [ 32 ], AlGaAs [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], InGaAs [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ], and InGaP [ 26 , 45 , 46 ]), forming a plethora of nanostructures [ 47 ] such as quantum dots (QDs); QDs diads [ 48 , 49 , 50 ]; multiple-concentric quantum rings [ 18 , 23 , 51 , 52 ...…”

“…Another aspect relevant for applications is the possibility to grow high-quality nanostructures on different substrate orientation, providing the ground for highly symmetric QDs on (111)A surfaces [ 26 , 27 , 35 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 61 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ] (e.g., for entangled photon pairs generation) and for ultra-high density quantum wires [ 60 ] and QDs [ 19 , 32 , 38 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 72 , 73 ] formation on the highly anisotropic (311)A surface (e.g., for laser emission). This latter class of nanostructures grown on (311)A surface has not yet been thoroughly investigated and a clear assessment of the corresponding excitonic dynamics has not yet been reported.…”

Surface‐interface analysis of InxGa1‐xAs/InP heterostructure in positive and negative mismatch system

“…As ternary III‐V compounds, In x Ga 1 − x As (0 < x < 1) films with relatively high carrier density, wide direct band gap from 0.35 to 1.42 eV, high reliability and radiation resistance have been widely applied into optical and electronic devices, such as short‐wave infrared photodetectors, light‐emitting diodes, lasers, solar cells, and high‐mobility transistors . With the recent technical development, various epitaxial growth technologies such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been explored to prepare high‐performance thin‐film semiconductors .…”