Coherent Growth of ZnSe Thin Film at Low Growth Temperature by Hydrogen Radical Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

ZnSe thin films were grown epitaxially on (100) GaAs substrates from metalorganic compounds with the aid of atomic hydrogen at low substrate temperature, i.e., 300°C or less. The film of 1 µm or more in thickness was grown coherently at the growth temperature of 230°C. This pseudomorphic structure with the thickness of 0.1 µm was quite stable and did not deform when it was annealed at a temperature of as high as 600°C. The lattice relaxation is strongly correlated with the crystallinity depending on the growth conditions which is a specific feature of this technique that enables the preparation of a stable pseudomorphic structure. The balance between adsorption and desorption of the precursors is considered to be the major factor responsible for the arrangement of atoms in the vicinity of the growth surface at rather low temperature.