Critical layer thickness in In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs single strained quantum well structures

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Abstract
We report accurate determination of the critical layer thickness (CLT) for single strained‐layer epitaxy in the InGaAs/GaAs system. Our samples were molecular beam epitaxially grown, selectively doped, single quantum well structures comprising a strained In0.2Ga0.8As layer imbedded in GaAs. We determined the CLT by two sensitive techniques: Hall‐effect measurements at 77 K and photoluminescence microscopy. Both techniques indicate a CLT of about 20 nm. This value is close to that determined previously (∼15 nm) for comparable strained‐layer superlattices, but considerably less than the value of ∼45 nm suggested by recent x‐ray rocking‐curve measurements. We show by a simple calculation that photoluminescence microscopy is more than two orders of magnitude more sensitive to dislocations than x‐ray diffraction. Our results re‐emphasize the necessity of using high‐sensitivity techniques for accurate determination of critical layer thicknesses.