Misfit dislocation nucleation in doped and undoped ZnSe/GaAs

Abstract

We have observed that undoped ZnSe films grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy show an irregular array of interfacial 60° misfit dislocations. However, N and Cl doping of the ZnSe thin films changes the interfacial dislocation structure. p-type ZnSe with N concentrations of ∼1018/cm3 shows a regular array of interfacial 60° misfit dislocations and a lower (∼1×106/cm2) density of threading dislocations compared to undoped films. However, samples with doping levels higher than 1019/cm3 show a density of threading dislocations of ∼108/cm2. These differences are explained in terms of Frank partial dislocations observed only in doped ZnSe. The Frank partial dislocations act as nucleation sites for the misfit dislocations. Thus, different mechanisms for the formation of misfit dislocations in doped and undoped films occur in this system.