Analysis of twin defects in GaAs(111)B molecular beam epitaxy growth

Abstract

The formation of twin is common during GaAs(111) and GaN(0001) molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth. A stacking fault in the zinc-blende (ZB)(111) direction can be described as an insertion of one monolayer of wurtzite structure, sandwiched between two ZB structures that have been rotated 60° along the growth direction. GaAs(111)A/B MBE growth within typical growth temperature regimes is complicated by the formation of pyramidal structures and 60° rotated twins, which are caused by faceting and stacking fault formation. Although previous studies have revealed much about the structure of these twins, a well-established simple nondestructive characterization method which allows the measurement of total aerial density of the twins does not exist at present. In this article, the twin density of AlGaAs layers grown on 1° miscut GaAs(111)B substrates has been measured using high resolution x-ray diffraction, and characterized with a combination of Nomarski microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. These comparisons permit the relationship between the aerial twin density and the growth condition to be determined quantitatively.