Rapid growth of II-VI laser structures by compound-source molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at high growth rate more than twice compared with the conventional rate was investigated for ZnSe layers and related laser structures by using polycrystalline compounds as source materials. A clearly-streaked (2 x 1) pattern indicating Se-stabilized surface was observed by reflection of high-energy electron diffraction during the growth of ZnSe:N layers at 260 - 360 degrees Celsius with around 2 micrometer/h. Full width at half-maximum of double crystal x-ray rocking curve was as narrow as 85 arc sec for a 6.5- micrometer-thick layer with mirror-like surface morphology. ZnCdSe/ZnSSe/ZnMgSSe separate confinement heterostructure lasers operated at room temperature were obtained with a time required to grow of 80 min. II-VI layers grown by the rapid compound-source (CS) MBE had high crystalline quality comparable to that of the layers grown at the conventional growth rate. CSMBE has the surface migration enhancement effect at the growth front due to high kinetic energy of source molecules. The CSMBE technique solved the problem of low productivity for the conventional II-VI MBE growth.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.