Optimising the growth of pyramidal GaAs microstructures on pre-patterned GaAs(001) substrates

Facet formation during the growth by molecular beam epitaxy of GaAs microst ructures on pre-patterned GaAs(0 0 1) substrates has been investigated by s econdary electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The effects of th e growth conditions have been studied for structures formed on both stripe and square based mesas. In all cases {1 1 0} facets are formed suggesting t hat kinetics plays a key role in determining the shape of the resulting mic rostructure. We show that by optimising the growth conditions it is possibl e to produce high quality pyramidal microstructures that appear to have the appropriate characteristics for application as a corner cube mirror in opt oelectronic device applications. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.