Strain relaxation in III-V semiconductor heterostructures

Strain relaxation in III-V semiconductor (001) epitaxial strained layers is considered with particular reference to the InGaAs/GaAS system. Possible m echanisms of relaxation are briefly reviewed. It is pointed out that relaxa tion is, and never can be, complete and that results relating to the extent of relaxation of thick layers, and the asymmetry of such relaxation in the two (110) should be interpreted with caution. Any asymmetry introduced by the use of vicinal substrates is less than the scatter among experimental m easurements of relaxation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.