Growth Parameters for Thin Film InBi Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Abstract

The alloying of bismuth with III–V semiconductors, in particular GaAs and InAs thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), has attracted considerable interest due to the accompanying changes in band structure and lattice constant. Specifically, bismuth incorporation in these compounds results in both a reduction in band gap (through shifting of the valence band) and an increase in the lattice constant of the alloy. To fully understand the composition of these alloys, a better understanding of the binary endpoints is needed. At present, a limited amount of literature exists on the III-Bi family of materials, most of which is theoretical work based on density functional theory calculations. The only III-Bi material known to exist (in bulk crystal form) is InBi, but its electrical properties have not been sufficiently studied and, to date, the material has not been fabricated as a thin film. We have successfully deposited crystalline InBi on (100) GaAs substrates using MBE. Wetting of the substrate is poor, and regions of varying composition exist across the substrate. To obtain InBi, the growth temperature had to be below 100 °C. It was found that film crystallinity improved with reduced Bi flux, into an In-rich regime. Additionally, attempts were made to grow AlBi and GaBi.