Growth efficiency and distribution coefficient of GaInP–InP epilayers and heterostructures

Abstract

We have prepared GaInP epilayers on InP by low pressure metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy to explore the structural, electrical, and optical properties of this relatively little-studied combination. In this paper, we focus on the growth process of GaInP by examining both single thick epilayers on InP as well as a number of double barriers of GaInP–InP prepared from two different trimethylindium (TMIn) sources. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) has been used to extract layer compositions and thicknesses and. consequently, the growth rates and efficiencies of the binary and ternary layers. In general, HRXRD indicates completely constrained heterostructures of high quality. Combining the growth parameters with the structural data leads to the determination of the Ga distribution coefficient during growth of the ternary compound that is found to depend strongly on the quality and stability of the TMIn source. Results from two series of epilayer depositions using the two TMIn sources are presented to illustrate the strong connection between the quality of the source material and the growth process of the epilayers.