For more than 50 years, research into III-V compound semiconductors has focused almost exclusively on materials grown on (001)-oriented substrates. In part, this is due to the relative ease with which III-Vs can be grown on (001) surfaces. However, in recent years, a number of key technologies have emerged that could be realized, or vastly improved, by the ability to also grow high-quality III-Vs on (111)-or (110)-oriented substrates These applications include: nextgeneration field-effect transistors, novel quantum dots, entangled photon emitters, spintronics, topological insulators, and transition metal dichalcogenides. The first purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature concerning growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of III-Vs on (111) and (110) substrates. The second is to describe our recent experimental findings on the growth, morphology, electrical, and optical properties of layers grown on non-(001) InP wafers. Taking InP(111)A, InP(111)B, and InP(110) substrates in turn, the authors systematically discuss growth of both In 0.52 Al 0.48 As and In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As on these surfaces. For each material system, the authors identify the main challenges for growth, and the key growth parameter-property relationships, trends, and interdependencies. The authors conclude with a section summarizing the MBE conditions needed to optimize the structural, optical and electrical properties of GaAs, InAlAs and InGaAs grown with (111) and (110) orientations. In most cases, the MBE growth parameters the authors recommend will enable the reader to grow high-quality material on these increasingly important non-(001) surfaces, paving the way for exciting technological advances.
We present a comparative study of the growth of tensile-strained GaP on the four low-index surfaces of GaAs: (001), (110), (111)A, and (111)B. For each surface orientation we outline the growth conditions required for smooth GaAs homoepitaxy. We are able to predict the resulting surface morphology when GaP is deposited onto these four GaAs surfaces by considering the influence of surface orientation on tensile strain relief. GaP deposited on GaAs(001) forms extremely smooth, planar layers. In contrast, the elastic relief of tensile strain on both GaAs(110) and GaAs(111)A leads to the three-dimensional self-assembly of GaP into dislocation-free nanostructures. Similarities between tensile and compressive self-assembly suggest that the kinetics governing many aspects of self-assembled growth is independent of the sign of strain. We show that differences in self-assembly on GaAs(110) and (111)A are the result of unequal adatom diffusion lengths. Tensile-strained self-assembly also occurs on GaAs(111)B, although our use of misoriented substrates resulted in the formation of one-dimensional nanoscale wires. Tensile-strained self-assembly is a versatile, reliable technique that can be extended to a wide range of materials in order to create dislocation-free nanostructures on (110) and (111) surfaces.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.