Growth of InAsP/InP quantum wells by solid source MBE on misoriented and exact InP (1 1 1)B: substrate temperature and arsenic species effects

Abstract

Two series of strained InAsP/InP multiquantum wells (MQWs) were grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SSMBE) simultaneously on Fe-doped InP substrates with a growth orientation of either (1 0 0), exact (1 1 1)B, and (1 1 1)B misoriented 1° toward 〈−2 1 1〉. The MQWs were grown using either dimer or tetramer arsenic (As 2 or As 4) over a substrate temperature range of 420–535°C. The θ–2 θ X-ray diffraction measurements, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the surfaces, and the 8 K photoluminescence (PL) full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) values of the (1 1 1)B samples showed general improvement in the samples' material properties with increasing substrate temperature. While the X-ray diffraction measurements and the AFM images showed little difference between As 2 and As 4, the 8 K PL FWHM values varied greatly with respect to the arsenic species used. The exact (1 1 1)B samples had narrower 8 K PL FWHM values when grown with As 2. For growth on misoriented (1 1 1)B InP, the 8 K FWHM values narrowed with As 4. The misoriented (1 1 1)B samples had the narrowest 8 K PL FWHM when grown with As 4 at a temperature of 520°C; the exact (1 1 1)B at 495°C when grown with As 2.