INTERFACE PROPERTIES AND VALENCE-BAND DISCONTINUITY OF MNS ZNSE HETEROSTRUCTURES/

Tetrahedrally bonded, metastable zinc-blende single-crystalline, singl e-phase MnS was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on ZnSe buffer layers grown on GaAs(100) substrates. The interface between MnS and ZnSe was studied by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron sp ectroscopy. The valence-band discontinuity in beta-MnS/ZnSe heterostru ctures was measured by x-ray-induced photoelectron spectroscopy. The v alence-band discontinuity is not resolved in valence-band spectra from the interface, thereby implying that it is small. Pie therefore deter mined the discontinuity from the separation of the core levels at the interface and in reference samples of ZnSe and beta-MnS. The results i ndicate that the valence-band discontinuity at the beta-MnS/ZnSe inter face is small (about 150 meV) and that the band alignment is of type I I, This result agrees with low-temperature photoluminescence measureme nts on MnS/ZnSe superlattices.