Crystal growth of InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells on InP(110) by MBE

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 364; pp. 95 - 100
• Main Authors: Yasuda, Yusuke, Koh, Shinji, Ikeda, Kazuhiro, Kawaguchi, Hitoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.02.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: A3. Molecular beam epitaxy; A3. Quantum wells; Applied sciences; B2. Nonlinear optic materials; B2. Semiconducting III–V materials; B3. Laser diodes; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystal defects; Crystal growth; Crystals; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Indium gallium arsenides; Magnetoelectric, magnetostrictive, magnetoacoustic, magnetooptic and magnetothermal devices. Spintronics; Materials science; Methods of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Molecular beam epitaxy; Molecular, atomic, ion, and chemical beam epitaxy; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Other topics in nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Quantum wells; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Transmission electron microscopy; A3. Quantum wells; A3. Molecular beam epitaxy; B3. Laser diodes; B2. Nonlinear optic materials; B2. Semiconducting III–V materials; Buffer layer; Crystal growth; Defect density; Gallium arsenides; B2. Semiconducting III―V materials; Epitaxial layers; Barrier layer; Quantum wells; Laser diodes; Crystal perfection; Indium arsenides; Operating conditions; Semiconductor lasers; Transmission electron microscopy; Molecular beam epitaxy; Absorption spectra; Nanostructured materials; Heterostructures; Spintronics; III-V semiconductors
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2012.11.039

The purpose of this study is to establish a crystal growth technique for quantum wells on InP(110) substrates for spintronics devices operating at 1.55μm. This paper reports attempts to optimize growth conditions for InGaAs and InAlAs crystals and their heterostructures on InP(110) and vicinal substrates in molecular beam epitaxy. For crystal growth on InP(110) substrates, the crystal quality of InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells deteriorated in spite of fabrication in optimized conditions for each of the InGaAs and InAlAs homo-epitaxial layers. A significant number of defects on the (1¯1¯1) plane were observed in transmission electron microscope (TEM) images; these defects started from the InAlAs buffer and barrier layers. For InP(110) vicinal substrates, we used substrates tilted by 3° from the exact (110) orientation toward (100), (010), (111)A and (111)B poles. We describe the optimized InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells on InP(110) substrates tilted by 3° toward the (111)B pole. The TEM observation clearly showed the improvement in crystal quality. We also measured absorption spectra of the InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells. ► Optimization of crystal growth on InP(110) and vicinal substrates in MBE. ► High crystal quality has been obtained in an InGaAs layer on InP(110) substrates. ► Defects in InAlAs degrade growth of InGaAs/InAlAs QWs on InP(110) substrates. ► Comparison of growth on substrates tilted toward (100), (010), (111)A and (111)B.