Synchrotron x-ray diffraction is used to compare the misfit strain and composition in a self-organized nanowire array in an InAs/GaSb superlattice with InSb interfacial bonds to a planar InAs/GaSb superlattice with GaAs interfacial bonds. It is found that the morphological instability that occurs in the nanowire array results from the large misfit strain that the InSb interfacial bonds have in the nanowire array. Based on this result, we propose that tailoring the type of interfacial bonds during the epitaxial growth of III-V semiconductor films provides a novel approach for producing the technologically important morphological instability in anomalously thin layers.
We have characterized the structure of AlAs/GaAs atomic-layer superlattices by x-ray diffraction. We show that when the superlattice layers are only a few monolayers (MLs) thick, lateral domains of vertical extent of 1-2 MLs exist. The small layer thickness also magnifies the growth error, leading to periodic compositional stacking faults in the growth direction. As the layer thickness increases, the lateral domain structures tend to behave like interfacial roughness. Growth interruption between successive layers enlarges the lateral domains, but does not remove the vertical stacking faults.
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