Ion channeling and x-ray diffraction study of tensely strained GaInP layers on InP

Layers of Ga0.25In0.75P were grown on InP by metalorganic molecular beam ep itaxy and studied by ion channeling and asymmetric high-resolution x-ray di ffraction. The angular difference between the substrate and the layer chann eling angles agreed with the corresponding angular difference calculated fr om the x-ray results. Negligible relaxation was found in Ga0.25In0.75P laye rs up to a thickness of 50 nm. Thicker layers were found to be partially re laxed. In the channeling experiments an additional minimum in the substrate angular scan profile at an angle corresponding roughly to the layer's mini mum yield was found. This extra minimum was attributed to the steering effe ct at the strained GaInP/InP interface [S. Hashimoto, Y. Q. Feng, W M. Gibs on, L. J. Schowalter, and B. D. Hunt, Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 13, 45 (1986 )], and was confirmed by a comparison with the x-ray diffraction measuremen ts. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)03601-3].