Growth of Sb-based materials by MOVPE

Abstract

This paper reviews part of the ongoing developments in the growth of antimony-based III–V materials by MOVPE. The wide variety of different compounds with distinct electrical and optical properties make the antimonides interesting for many optoelectronic devices. This paper describes some of the more general properties and applications of these materials with a focus on two specific issues: The growth of Al-containing layers and doping sources. Results of (AlGa)Sb layers grown between 575°C and 625°C using alternative Al-precursors like dimethylethylamine alane or tritertiarybutylaluminum are presented. High background impurity levels of oxygen have been found to be due to the insufficient quality of the novel precursors. Furthermore, prereactions in the gas phase as well as memory effects are observed. Results on the Si and Te dopant incorporation in GaSb and the resulting crystal properties are shown. The acceptor Si has a positive effect on the photoluminescence and Hall mobility in GaSb. Te was found to be useful as a n-type dopant for carrier concentrations up to 10 18 cm −3 where clustering starts to degrade the crystal properties.