CHEMICAL BEAM EPITAXIAL-GROWTH OF HIGH OPTICAL-QUALITY ALGAAS - THE INFLUENCE OF PRECURSOR PURITY ON MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The influence of source precursor purity on the quality of resulting c hemical beam epitaxy (CBE) grown AlGaAs epilayers has been investigate d. A close correlation has been established between the presence of tr ace quantities of diethyl ether in a precursor and consequent oxygen c ontamination of AlGaAs. Careful selection and purification of the prec ursors to reduce ether contamination has generated significant improve ments in both the optical and electrical properties of CBE-grown AlGaA s, such that it is now directly comparable with high quality molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) grow n material.