Enhanced As–Sb intermixing of GaSb monolayer superlattices in low-temperature grown GaAs

Abstract

As–Sb compositional intermixing was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in GaAs films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at low temperature (LT) and δ doped with antimony. The TEM technique was calibrated by imaging the as-grown films with δ layers containing various amounts of Sb. The calibration allowed us to deduce the effective As–Sb interdiffusion coefficient from apparent thickness of the Sb δ layers in the films subjected to isochronal anneals at 400–600 °C. The As–Sb intermixing in LT GaAs was found to be much enhanced when compared to conventional material. Its temperature dependence yields a diffusion coefficient of DAs–Sb=2×10−14 exp(−0.62±0.15 eV/kt) cm2 s−1. Since the kick-out mechanism operating under equilibrium conditions is valid for As–Sb interdiffusion in GaAs, the enhanced intermixing was attributed to an oversaturation of arsenic self-interstitials in the LT GaAs films. The effective activation energy for As–Sb interdiffusion in LT GaAs seems to be reasonably close to the migration enthalpy of As interstitials, whereas their concentration was roughly estimated as 1018 cm−3.