STRUCTURAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZA TION OF THIN EPITAXIAL LAYERS OF ZNSE DEPOSITED ON GAAS

Thin epitaxial layers of ZnSe have been deposited on singlecrystalline GaAs substrate by Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA). The influence of the s ubstrate temperature and its surface state on the structural quality o f these layers has been first studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). A fu ll epitaxial growth of ZnSe has been obtained for substrate temperatur es > 420 degrees C. The surface morphology of ZnSe has also been studi ed by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy ( SEM). The structural and morphological quality of these ZnSe epilayers on GaAs has been compared to these of epilayers produced by Metal Org anic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) or by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (M BE). We can notice that the Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) is an alternat ive technique which allows to prepare ZnSe epilayers of a quality comp arable to that of the layers obtained by MOCVD or MBE.