Growth of single-crystal metastable (GaAs)1−x(Si2)x alloys on GaAs and (GaAs)1−x(Si2)x/GaAs strained-layer superlattices

Abstract
Epitaxial zinc blende structure metastable (GaAs)1−x(Si2)x alloys have been grown with 0<x<0.3 on As-stabilized GaAs(100) substrates by a hybrid sputter deposition/evaporation technique. The films, typically 2–3 μm thick, were deposited at 570 °C with growth rates between 0.7 and 1 μm h−1. Alloys with 0<x0.12 exhibited increasing evidence of interfacial defects associated with lattice strain when grown on GaAs. However, defect-free alloys with x up to 0.3 were obtained using (GaAs)1−x(Si2)x/GaAs strained-layer superlattice buffer layers to provide a better lattice match.