Influence of substrate misorientation on the optical and structural properties of InGaAs/GaAs single strained quantum wells grown on (111)B GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy

A series of InGaAs/GaAs Single Strained Quantum Wells (SSQWs) with indium c ontent ranging from 25% to 35% and 100 Angstrom well thickness were grown o n two different (111)B GaAs off-axis substrates under optimized growth cond itions for simultaneous growth. Optoelectronic properties were studied in t erms of low temperature photoluminescence (PL). Results indicate a PL emiss ion dependence with the substrate used, this dependence being stronger for highly strained systems. In order to determine the source of this dependenc e, samples were studied by Planar View Transmission Electron Microscopy (PV TEM). Relaxation mechanisms seem to act in a different way regarding the mi soriented substrate used. Although previous theoretical results have alread y reported this dependence, this is the first direct evidence of this pheno menon for SSQWs. The results of these two different techniques will be comp ared and discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.