Optical characterization of surfaces during epitaxial growth using RDS and GIXS

Abstract

Structures of (001)GaAs surfaces during organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) have been studied by simultaneous measurements using reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) and grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXS). The data obtained by the two techniques are strongly correlated. We find that RDS, although not a diffraction probe, can distinguish most surface reconstructions of (001)GaAs. The information obtained by these two probes is complementary, so by combining RDS and GIXS data obtained from surfaces under static and dynamic conditions we can gain detailed information about atomic arrangements and growth mechanisms. Under static conditions, we find that RD spectra under OMVPE conditions are similar to those previously observed in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). By simultaneously monitoring the surface reconstructions using GIXS and RDS, we have established that RDS accurately reflects the local structural configurations but is not uniquely sensitive to changes in long range order or subtle differences in symmetry. Growth oscillations were also measured simultaneously by RDS and GIXS under various conditions. The observed oscillation periods agree with each other, but the details are condition dependent, thus providing important clues concerning the surface processes involved. For example, the one-to-one correlation observed between RDS and GIXS oscillations suggests that the RDS oscillations are related to island formation.