THE SUBSTRATE ORIENTATION DEPENDENCE OF IN ATOM INCORPORATION DURING THE GROWTH OF (IN,GA)AS ON GAAS BY MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY

This paper reports on a comparison of the relative extent of desorptio n of indium atoms during growth by molecular-beam epitaxy of (In,Ga)As films between GaAs confinement layers on GaAs substrates of all four low index orientations: (1 0 0), (1 1 0), (1 1 1)A and (1 1 1)B. Measu rable desorption begins at 500 degrees C on (1 1 0)-oriented substrate s, but is some 40 degrees C higher for the other three. For all orient ations the extent of desorption increases rapidly with temperature, th e order being (1 1 0) > (1 1 1)A > (1 0 0) > (1 1 1)B. The activation energy with In desorption from (1 1 0)-oriented surfaces is very much lower than the others and we discuss the origin. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.