Temperature effect study on structural and morphological properties of In.08Ga.92As/GaAs structures grown by MOVPE

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 310; no. 24; pp. 5259 - 5265
• Main Authors: HABCHI, M. M, REBEY, A, EL JANI, B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier 01-12-2008
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Mechanical and acoustical properties; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Physical properties of thin films, nonelectronic; Physics; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology; Vapor phase epitaxy; growth from vapor phase; Atomic force microscopy; Gallium arsenides; Al. Atomic force microscopy; Atmospheric pressure; Growth rate; Crystal defect density; Organometallic compounds; Roughness; Diffraction gratings; VPE; XRD; 81.15.Gh; Al. High-resolution X-ray diffraction; Crystal perfection; 07.79.Lh; B2. Semiconducting III-V materials; Thin films; Dislocation density; Disordered alloy; Temperature effects; Rocking curve; Absorption spectra; Crystal morphology; Optical absorption; Crystal structure; Scanning electron microscopy; Surface morphology; Indium arsenides; III-V compound; Operating conditions; 61.10.Nz; Ordered crystals; 78.66.Fd; A2. Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy; Al. Crystal morphology; Anisotropy; MOVPE method; Growth mechanism; 78.40.Fy; III-V semiconductors
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2008.09.011

In.08Ga.92As layers were grown on the GaAs(0 0 1) substrate by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (AP-MOVPE). Among growth conditions, only growth temperature was varied in the range 520-680 deg C. This temperature interval keeps solid indium composition constant when fixing vapour indium composition. In order to improve crystal quality and to contribute to the understanding of the growth kinetic, we have studied the temperature effect on morphological and structural properties and growth process of In.08Ga.92As/GaAs structures. Surface morphology evolution of InGaAs films (RMS surface roughness, hatchings and islands of formations, densities, sizes and uniformities, etc.) and growth process (growth anisotropy, etc.) versus growth temperature were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and plan-view scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Dislocations density and alloys disorder (by using Urbach energy) changes of InGaAs alloys were examined by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) in rocking curves mode and optical absorption (OA) measurements, respectively. A correlation between results and comparison with the literature has been given. All measurements show that optimal growth temperature regarding crystal quality (defects density, alloys disorder, etc.) is about 520 deg C. Besides, surface morphology of In.08Ga.92As at this temperature was specified by the presence of hatchings and the absence of islands. As a manufactured diffraction grating, we find that hatchings network can diffract a 632.8 nm incident laser.