Direct observation of stacking fault nucleation in the early stage of ZnSe/GaAs pseudomorphic epitaxial layer growth

The nucleation of stacking faults in the initial stage of growth of ZnSe/Ga As(001) epilayers has been studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Stacking faults have been observed to nucleate on the {111} pl anes on the slopes of ZnSe islands and hang over the adjacent (001) surface . The image details of a V-shaped fault originating from a sharp tip at a l ater stage of growth is in good agreement with the simulated image of stack ing faults emerging from a dimer array of three chains. This gives support to residual dimer array on the 2x1 reconstructed (001) surface as the origi n of stacking faults in ZnSe epilayers. (C) 2000 American Institute of Phys ics. [S0003-6951(00)02744-3].