THE INTERFACIAL LAYER FORMATION OF THE AG INP HETEROINTERFACES/

A new approach has been introduced for the fabrication of Ag/p-InP(100 ) heterostructures by ion-beam-assisted deposition with the goal of gr owing Ag epitaxial films. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that t he Ag thin-him layers grown on the InP substrates were polycrystalline . Auger electron spectroscopy measurements showed that the Ag was unif ormly distributed throughout the thickness of the him and that a relat ively sharp interface existed. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the grown Ag him was a polycrystalline layer and that an interfa cial layer was formed in the Ag/InP heterointerface. These results ind icate that the growth of polycrystalline Ag layers instead of epitaxia l films originates from the formation of an interfacial amorphous laye r prior to the creation of the films. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.