Influence of atomic hydrogen on step stability during homoepitaxial growth on vicinal GaAs surfaces

Abstract

We have employed a combination of reflection high-energy electron diffraction intensity oscillations and atomic force microscopy to investigate the effect of atomic hydrogen on the step bunching instability that arises during homoepitaxial growth from molecular beams of Ga and As4 on vicinal GaAs(110) surfaces due to the asymmetric incorporation rates of adatoms to upper and lower step edges. We discuss the variations observed in the GaAs growth mode and in the terrace width distribution of the bunched-step morphology in terms of H-induced changes in the reaction pathway and in the kinetics of adatom migration and incorporation at steps.