Growth of ZnSe on GaAs by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy with dim
ethylselenide and metal Zn sources is investigated. We show that the d
ecomposition of dimethylselenide is pyrolithic and achieve cracking ef
ficiencies as high as 90% at a cracker temperature of 1200 degrees C.
With an efficient cracker high growth rates of ZnSe are obtained, limi
ted only by the flux of dimethylselenide. Mass spectroscopic investiga
tions demonstrate that atomic Se is the dominant group VI species. The
high sticking probability of Zn to atomic Se results in metalorganic
molecular beam epitaxy with high growth efficiency, exceeding that of
conventional molecular beam epitaxy. (C) 1996 American Institute of Ph
ysics.