Bibcode
Gocalinska, A.; Manganaro, M.; Pelucchi, E.; Vvedensky, D. D.
Bibliographical reference
Physical Review B, vol. 86, Issue 16, id. 165307
Advertised on:
10
2012
Citations
18
Refereed citations
18
Description
We present a systematic study of the morphology of homoepitaxial InP
films grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy which are imaged with ex
situ atomic force microscopy. These films show a dramatic range of
different surface morphologies as a function of the growth conditions
and substrate (growth temperature, V/III ratio, and miscut angle
<0.6∘ and orientation toward A or B sites), ranging
from stable step flow to previously unreported strong step bunching,
over 10 nm in height. These observations suggest a window of growth
parameters for optimal quality epitaxial layers. We also present a
theoretical model for these growth modes that takes account of
deposition, diffusion, and dissociation of molecular precursors, and the
diffusion and step incorporation of atoms released by the precursors.
The experimental conditions for step flow and step bunching are
reproduced by this model, with the step bunching instability caused by
the difference in molecular dissociation from above and below step
edges, as was discussed previously for GaAs (001).