MISFIT DISLOCATION SOURCES AT SURFACE RIPPLE TROUGHS IN CONTINUOUS HETEROEPITAXIAL LAYERS

The present work examines ordered surface ripple arrays exhibited by c ontinuous epitaxial InGaAs on GaAs and, for the first time, demonstrat es directly that ripple trough locations are sources for misfit defect s at the heteroepitaxial interface, Defect nucleation can take place d ue to the enhanced stress at such troughs. The first stress-relieving defects observed to form are faulted dislocation half-loops on incline d {111} planes.