High-Temperature Nucleation of GaP on V‑Grooved Si

• Published in: Crystal growth & design Vol. 20; no. 10; pp. 6745 - 6751
• Main Authors: Saenz, Theresa E, McMahon, William E, Norman, Andrew G, Perkins, Craig L, Zimmerman, Jeramy D, Warren, Emily L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 07-10-2020
• Subjects: GaP on Si; III-V heteroepitaxy; MATERIALS SCIENCE; nanopatterning
• ISSN: 1528-7483; 1528-7505
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00875

The use of nanopatterned {111}-faceted v-grooves has recently shown promise for growing high-quality III–V material on Si. Here, we study the effect of reactor conditions and surface pretreatments on the nucleation of GaP on v-grooved Si in a high-temperature regime, which offers the promise of a defect-free GaP/Si interface favorable for Si passivation and dislocation glide in the GaP. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to understand the Si surface chemistry prior to nucleation, and transmission electron microscopy was used to probe material quality of the nuclei. Temperature and V/III ratio were found to control the facet selectivity of nucleation. We demonstrate a condition of high temperature and high V–III ratio that leads to uniform nucleation at the bottom of the trenches, with initial material free of nucleation-related interfacial defects. This optimized condition was then shown to coalesce into a thin film after additional growth.