Nanoindentation studies of MOVPE grown GaAs/InP heterostructures

Mismatched semiconductor III-V heterostructures are interesting for advance d integrated device fabrication. The surface properties studied by the nano indentation technique can reveal information about the elastic recovery, re lative hardness and in particular surface flow properties. In this work nan oindentation studies have been carried out on GaAs/InP heterostructures gro wn by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. The depth of penetration is conti nuously monitored during loading and unloading. The contour map determined by profilometry and surface analysis by AFM indicates that the material pil es up after a particular load. The results of the present investigation alo ng with growth conditions and the effect of lattice mismatch are discussed. (C) 2000 published by Elsevier Science S.A.