Alloying effects on the critical layer thickness in InxGa1−xAs/InP heterostructures analyzed by Raman scattering

P.S. Pizani (1) , T.M. Boschi (1) , F. Lanciotti, Jr (1) , J. Groenen (2) , Robert Carles (2) , P. Maigné (3) , M. Gendry (4)

1 UFSCar - Universidade Federal de São Carlos [São Carlos]
2 Laboratoire Physique des Solides de Toulouse
3 CRC - Communications Research Centre Canada
4 LEAME - Laboratoire d'électronique, automatique et mesures électriques

Raman scattering has been used to estimate the critical layer thickness and to analyze the alloying effect on strain relaxation in InxGa1−xAs layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on InP [001]-oriented substrate, for x ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. Measurements of longitudinal optical GaAs-like phonon frequency and Raman linewidth showed that the indium/gallium ratio contents greatly influences the strain relaxation. A comparison between Raman and x-ray diffraction measurements of relaxation ratios as a function of layer thickness is presented. The results can be explained in terms of the combined effect of strain and chemical and structural disorder.

Mots clés: Epitaxy; Heterostructures; Semiconductors; Mechanical stress; X-ray diffraction; Chemical elements; Raman scattering; Phonons

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Matériaux

P.S. Pizani, T.M. Boschi, F. Lanciotti, Jr, J. Groenen, Robert Carles, et al.. Alloying effects on the critical layer thickness in InxGa1−xAs/InP heterostructures analyzed by Raman scattering. Applied Physics Letters, 1998, 72 (4), pp.436-438. ⟨10.1063/1.120800⟩. ⟨hal-02111887⟩