INHIBITION OF THICKNESS VARIATIONS DURING GROWTH OF INASP INGAP AND INASP/INGAASP MULTIQUANTUM WELLS WITH HIGH COMPENSATED STRAINS/

We demonstrate by using transmission electron microscopy that the inse rtion of small amounts of a well-chosen material lattice matched to th e substrate at the interfaces between the highly strained layers of a strain-compensated multiquantum well (MQW) may prevent the catastrophi c morphological degradation of the epitaxial structure as growth proce eds. For InAsP/InGaP and InAsP/InGaAsP MQWs grown on an InP substrate, we find that InP itself is an efficient interfacial material, whereas for the same InAsP/InGaAsP MQWs, an InGaAsP alloy is less effective. We show that the interfacial InP restores the planarity of the growth surface by filling the depressions of the underlying undulating strain ed layer. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.