Use of ab etchant for clarifying the structural-impurity inhomogeneties in epitaxial layers of GaAs

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate the possibility of using Abrahams-Buiocchi etchant, widely used for revealing the dislocation structure of GaAs monocrystals, for studying submicroscopic impurity micro-inhomogeneities in epitaxial layers of GaAs. The required information is achieved by using etching patterns of electron microscopy replicas for the study. The presence of the “memory” effect during etching is demonstrated as an example of growth stacking faults. Impurity micro-inhomogeneities are visualized in the bulk of the epitaxial layers, caused by the presence of centers of step obstructions on the growth surface.