Metallurgical amd electroluminescence characteristics of vapor-phase and liquid-phase epitaxial junction structures of InxGa1−xAs

Abstract

InxGa1−xAs (x = 0.05 to 0.32) p-n junction structures have been grown on GaAs substrates by vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE) and liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE). It is shown that by step-grading the VPE material, lattice-mismatch strain can be absorbed by dislocations at the grading interfaces, leaving the final constant-composition device layers relatively dislocation free. In contrast, the dislocation density for LPE InxGa1−xAs increases with increasing InAs concentration. For both materials, diffusion lengths, electroluminescence efficiencies, and 77°K laser-diode parameters (threshold and efficiency) can be correlated with their dislocation densities. The VPE materials have electrical and luminescence properties that are independent of InAs concentration, and match those of their GaAs counterparts. The LPE materials exhibit properties that degrade with increasing InAs concentration.