Surface morphology of InP thin films grown on InP(001) by solid source molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

InP thin films grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy on InP(001) substrates have been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The morphology of the films is highly dependent on growth temperature and the P 2 :In incident flux ratio. High substrate temperatures and low flux ratios result in a large density of micron-sized, three-dimensional islands and a poor overall surface morphology. By contrast, relatively low substrate temperatures and high flux ratios lead to very smooth surfaces with a negligible defect density. The results indicate that a high incident P 2 flux is required to generate a sufficient phosphorus supply for the growth of morphologically smooth InP thin films.

Growth of InAs/InP(001) nanostructures: The transition from quantum wires to quantum dots

“…Epi-ready Fe-doped InP(0 0 1) substrates were indium bonded to molybdenum plattens and then loaded in to the loadlock. For each sample, prior to the deposition of InAs, the sample was cleaned using procedures outlined elsewhere [7]. Once a (2 Â 4) RHEED pattern was observed, the substrate temperature was reduced to 480 1C and a 0.25 mm InP buffer layer was grown at 0.5 mm h À1 with a V:III ratio of $25:1.…”

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of low-index GaAs surfaces

“…Atomic hydrogen (AH) cleaning has been shown in a number of studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] to be a viable alternative method for the preparation of clean, atomically flat surfaces on a variety of III-V semiconductor substrates. The technique has several advantages over conventional thermal cleaning-much lower temperatures (p400 1C) are required; impurities (in particular oxide residues) are removed more rapidly and selectively; the procedure can be performed under UHV conditions; and the presence of a group V source is not required.…”

“…The technique has several advantages over conventional thermal cleaning-much lower temperatures (p400 1C) are required; impurities (in particular oxide residues) are removed more rapidly and selectively; the procedure can be performed under UHV conditions; and the presence of a group V source is not required. Since the extent of surface damage and contamination is greatly reduced, the need to grow thick buffer layers can be virtually eliminated and the technique might therefore be applied to a wider range of materials, including patterned [3,5] and phosphide-based substrates [1,14].…”

Microstructural and optoelectronic properties of polycrystalline InP films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

“…Preparation and characterization of the InP thin films by flash evaporation [6], pulsed laser deposition [7][8][9], sputtering [10][11][12][13][14][15], molecular beam epitaxy [16][17][18], electro-deposition [19], spray pyrolysis [20,21], metal-organic chemical vapor deposition [22][23][24][25], liquid phase epitaxy [26] and organic chemical vapor deposition [27] were reported earlier. Every technique has associated with its own merits and demerits.…”