Morphological transition of InAs islands on GaAs(001) upon deposition of a GaAs capping layer

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The interaction between a GaAs cap and InAs islands grown on vicinal GaAs(001) has been studied by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Samples were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy at 480 °C. Upon GaAs cap deposition, it was found that the previously grown InAs islands undergo a novel type of morphological transition, i.e., a transition from disk‐shaped to ring‐shaped islands. InAs becomes depleted or entirely absent in the central area of what had been a disk‐shaped InAs island. The GaAs cap was also shown to be virtually absent within the same central region, resulting in the formation of crater‐like surface depressions.