Island formation in ultra-thin InAs/InP quantum wells grown by chemical beam epitaxy

Abstract
We have studied the effect of growth interruptions on 2-monolayers-thick InAs/InP strained quantum wells (QW) grown by chemical beam epitaxy. The main feature is the formation of up to 8-monolayers-thick InAs islands during As2 annealing of the QW. Their formation is characterized by a two to three dimensional transition of the reflection high-energy electron diffraction pattern and multiple-lines photoluminescence spectra. An increase of a short range roughness at the InP-InAs interface due to As2 annealing of InP is also observed.