Characterization of GaAs on MnZn ferrite with a MnAs buffer layer

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of an MnAs buffer layer for the epitaxial growth of GaAs on MnZn ferrite substrates using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and glazing incidence-angle X-ray diffraction (GIXD). The RHEED and XRD observation have shown that the crystal quality of the GaAs layer is dramatically improved by inserting the MnAs buffer layer in spite of its large lattice mismatch. AFM observation has revealed that the use of the MnAs buffer also leads to the improvement in surface morphology. The epitaxial relationship for GaAs/MnAs/ferrite structure turned out to be [1 1 1]GaAs//[0 0 0 1]MnAs//[1 1 1]ferrite and [1 1 2 ̄ ] GaAs// [1 1 ̄ 0 0] MnAs// [1 1 2 ̄ ] ferrite. These improvements can be attributed to the efficient relaxation of the lattice strain due to the softness of the MnAs metal bonding.