Threading dislocations in InxGa1−xAs/GaAs heterostructures

Dislocation formation in the heteroepitaxial growth of PbSe/PbTe systems

Dislocations and traps in MBE grown p-InGaAs/GaAs lattice-mismatched heterostructures are investigated by Cross-section Transmission Electron Microscopy (XTEM), Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and Photo-luminescence (PL). The misfit dislocations and the threading dislocations observed by XTEM in different samples with different In mole fractions and different InGaAs layer thickness generally satisfy the Dodson-Tsao's plastic flow critical layer thickness curve. The threading dislocations in bulk layers introduce three hole trap levels HI, H2 and H5 with DLTS activation energies of 0.32 eV, 0.40 eV, 0.88 eV, respectively, and one electron trap El with DLTS activation energy of 0.54 eV. The misfit dislocations in relaxed InGaAs/GaAs interface induce a hole trap level H4 with DLTS activation energy between the range of 0.67–0.73 eV. All dislocation induced traps are nonradiative recombination centers which greatly degrade the optical property of the InGaAs/GaAs layers.

Investigation of dislocations and traps in MBE grown p-InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures

We have investigated the interfacial structure of epitaxial (Ba,Sr)TiO3 films grown on (111)-oriented SrTiO3 single-crystal substrates using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Compared with the (100) epitaxial perovskite films, we observe dominant dislocation half-loop with Burgers vectors of a⟨110⟩ comprised of a misfit dislocation along ⟨112⟩, and threading dislocations along ⟨110⟩ or ⟨100⟩. The misfit dislocation with Burgers vector of a⟨110⟩ can dissociate into two ½a⟨110⟩ partial dislocations and one stacking fault. We found the dislocation reactions occur not only between misfit dislocations, but also between threading dislocations. Via three-dimensional electron tomography, we retrieved the configurations of the threading dislocation reactions. The reactions between threading dislocations lead to a more efficient strain relaxation than do the misfit dislocations alone in the near-interface region of the (111)-oriented (Ba0.7Sr0.3)TiO3 films.

Electron-hole recombination enhanced glide of Shockley partial dislocations bounding expanding stacking faults and their interactions with threading dislocations in 4H silicon carbide epitaxial layers have been studied using synchrotron white beam X-ray topography and in situ electroluminescence. The mobile silicon-core Shockley partial dislocations bounding the stacking faults are able to cut through threading edge dislocations leaving no trailing dislocation segments in their wake. However, when the Shockley partial dislocations interact with threading screw dislocations, trailing 30o partial dislocation dipoles are initially deposited in their wake due to the pinning effect of the threading screw dislocations. These dipoles spontaneously snap into their screw orientation, regardless the normally immobile carbon-core Shockley partial dislocation components in the dipoles. They subsequently cross slip and annihilate, leaving a prismatic stacking fault in (2-1-10) plane with the displacement vector 1/3[01-10].

The GaInAsSb material has been conventionally grown on lattice-matched GaSb substrates. In this work, we transplanted this material onto the GaAs substrates in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The threading dislocations (TDs) originating from the large lattice mismatch were efficiently suppressed by a novel metamorphic buffer layer design, which included the interfacial misfit (IMF) arrays at the GaSb/GaAs interface and strained GaInSb/GaSb multi-quantum wells (MQWs) acting as dislocation filtering layers (DFLs). Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that a large part of the dislocations was bonded on the GaAs/GaSb interface due to the IMF arrays, and the four repetitions of the DFL regions can block most of the remaining threading dislocations. Etch pit density (EPD) measurements indicated that the dislocation density in the GaInAsSb material on top of the buffer layer was reduced to the order of 106 /cm2, which was among the lowest for this compound material grown on GaAs. The light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on the GaInAsSb P-N structures on GaAs exhibited strong electro-luminescence (EL) in the 2.0–2.5 µm range. The successful metamorphic growth of GaInAsSb on GaAs with low dislocation densities paved the way for the integration of various GaInAsSb based light emitting devices on the more cost-effective GaAs platform.

High-speed GaN growth of 1.0 µm/h with migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) by molecular beam epitaxy using rf-plasma nitrogen (RF-MBE) was demonstrated. The electron mobility of MEE-GaN was 362 cm2/V·s for the electron density of 1.7×1017 cm-3 at room temperature. The threading dislocation density of MEE-GaN was estimated to be 1.0–3.0×1010 cm-2 based on the cross-sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) image. The remarkable improvement of electrical properties was obtained by the introduction of a high-temperature (750°C) grown AlN/GaN multiple intermediate layer (AlN-MIL). The cross-sectional TEM image showed that threading dislocations were bent or terminated at the AlN-MIL. The highest room temperature mobility of 668 cm2/V·s was obtained at the electron density of 9.5×1016 cm-3. The low-temperature peak mobility was 2340 cm2/V·s at 90 K.

Configuration of a single grown-in dislocation corresponding to one etch pit formed on the surface of CVD homoepitaxial diamond

Epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) has been used to reduce threading dislocation (TD) densities in GaN. This paper reports transmission and scanning electron microscopy studies of TDs in GaN films grown by ELO on GaN nanocolumns produced either during growth by MBE (method 1), or by self‐organised patterning on a uniform layer grown by MOCVD (method 2). In method 1, isolated nanocolumns grew without TDs, but some TDs formed when nanocolumns coalesced. Although some of these TDs extended through the overlayer, extensive lateral migration of others, depending on the dislocation type, led to dislocation annihilation, lowering the overall TD density. In method 2, a similar process of lateral migration of TDs was observed during ELO, resulting in a continuous GaN overlayer with TD densities less than 108 cm–2. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Plastic relaxation of layers on (100) Si leads to formation of misfit dislocations at the heterointerface and threading dislocations through the heterostructure. We report here a deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) investigation of dislocations in n-type heterostructures grown by selective epitaxy using low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD). DLTS was used to detect deep states correlated with dislocations. Measurements were performed on large-area samples (relaxation degree of 63%) as well as on small areas (relaxation degree of 4%) grown selectively on the same wafer. The bias-dependent DLTS peak heights are consistent with a spatially varying dislocation density. This variation, and the combined interpretation of the corresponding DLTS peaks from large and small areas, allowed us to associate one of the deep levels with misfit dislocations at the heterointerface, a second one with threading dislocations and the third one with defects present in the SiGe layer near the interface.

The reduction of threading dislocation density due to their mutual interactions in GaSb thin films grown on (001) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy has been investigated. The effectiveness of several buffer layer schemes including GaSb/AlSb strained layer superlattice and buffers for threading dislocation suppression was evaluated. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that the GaSb/GaAs interface consists of a highly periodic network of 90° pure edge misfit dislocations, with an average spacing close to that for a fully relaxed system. This results in relatively low threading densities in the GaSb epilayer, despite their large lattice constant mismatch (8.2%). The threading dislocation density as a function of GaSb film thickness was determined by plan‐view transmission electron microscopy and was found to decrease with film thickness due to mutual interactions among dislocations. It was found that a strained layer superlattice of GaSb/AlSb, with each layer close to its critical thickness, is the most effective in threading density reduction.

This paper reports on a new approach for reducing the threading dislocation density in GaAs on Si. We have used InxGa1-xAs/GaAs strained-layer superlattices (SLSs) grown on GaAs/Si at 300°C by migration-enhanced epitaxy as threading dislocation barriers. Different from conventional high-temperature-grown SLSs, the low-temperature-grown SLSs are only slightly relaxed by misfit dislocation formation at GaAs/SLS interfaces. Thus, considerable strain can be accumulated in SLS. In addition, new threading dislocation generation due to the misfit dislocation can be suppressed. These factors lead to effective threading dislocation bending and to significant reduction in the dislocation density. For the samples with a SLS of x=0.3, the average etch-pit density is 7×104 cm-2, which is the lowest value ever reported.

Strain contrast in scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of subsurface dislocations in lattice-mismatched heteroepitaxy

The geometry of threading dislocations (TDs), non‐equilibrium defects that are generated as a result of stress relaxation in thin films, is considered in order to provide a basis for their reduction behavior during heteroepitaxial growth. This paper, the first of a two‐part series, discusses the geometric possibility for reactions between TDs as a result of film growth. It is demonstrated that effective TD motion and reaction are responsible for their overall reduction. The reactions become possible if pairs of TDs come within a critical distance: γA for annihilation reactions, γF for fusion reactions, and γS for scattering reactions. The model is used to explain the experimentally observed l/h (h is the film thickness) dependence on TD density. The crystallographic consideration of TDs in the case of (001) growth of f.c.c. semiconductor films is presented and possible reactions between TDs in this case are analyzed.

Group-III nitride semiconductors have attracted much attention for application in optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes and laser diodes. In particular, highly efficient light emitting devices using self-assembled quantum dots have been pained much attention. For InN and InGaN grown on GaN(0001) substrate, it has been reported that three-dimensional (3D) islands are formed after two-dimensional (2D) wetting layers, resulting in Stranski-Krastanow (SK) growth mode [1,2]. Moreover it has been reported that the growth modes of InN on GaN(0001) substrate during molecular beam epitaxy depend on growth conditions such as V/III ratio and substrate temperature[3]: N-rich condition favors 3D growth, whereas In-rich condition leads to 2D growth. However, it is still unclear what is the crucial factor for determining the growth modes of InN and InGaN depending on the growth condition. In this study, the growth mode of InN and InGaN thin films on GaN(0001) substrate are investigated using the macroscopic theory using free energy formula [4] with the aid of empirical potential calculations [5] as well as ab initio calculations [6]. Effects of pyramids island with {1-103} facets and misfit dislocation (MD) formation are taken into account for the evaluation of free energies of InN and InGaN thin films on GaN(0001) substrate.The calculations of cohesive energy difference ΔE as a function of InN film thickness for 2D coherent growth (2D-coherent) and 2D growth with MD (2D-MD) using empirical interatomic potentials reveals that 2D-MD is more stable than 2D-coherent for InN films beyond 0.7 monolayers (ML). On the basis of these results, the MD formation energy Ed and the effective elastic constant M are estimated to be 1.31 eV/Å and 5.60×1011 N/m2. The calculated result of Ed reasonably agrees with previous calculations for dislocation core energy in bulk InN (1.51 eV/Å) [7]. Moreover, the analysis of free energies using the value of Ed and M and surface energies obtained by ab initio calculations (~ 0.074 eV/ Å2) demonstrate that the critical thickness between growth 2D-coherent and 2D-MD under In-rich conditions is 0.45 ML. The calculated results are qualitatively consistent with the experimental results [3]. The calculated phase diagram for growth mode as functions of surface energy of (0001) and surface energy difference between (0001) and (1-103) planes suggest that growth mode boundary between 2D-MD and 3D coherent growth with hexagonal pyramid island formation (3D-coherent) strongly depends on the surface energy difference between (0001) and (1-103) planes. 2D-MD is favorable when the surface energy of InN(1-103) is larger than that of InN(0001), whereas 3D-coherent is favorable when the surface energies of InN(1-103) is smaller than InN(0001). These results imply that the relative stability between (0001) and (1-103) planes depending on the growth condition is decisive for the growth modes of InN on GaN(0001) substrate.[1] S. Ploch et al., Phys. Status. Solidi C 6, 574 (2009). [2] C. Adelmann et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1570 (2000). [3] Y. F. Ng et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 3960 (2002). [4] K. Shiraishi et al., J. Cryst. Growth 237, 206 (2002). [5] K. E. Khor, and S. Das Sarma, Phys. Rev. B 38, 3318 (1988). [6] T. Akiyama et al., Phys. Status Solidi B 255, 1700329 (2018). [7] T. Ito et al., J. Cryst. Growth 298, 186 (2007).Figure: Phase diagrams of growth modes boundary between 2D-MD and 3D-coherent of InN on GaN(0001) substrate as functions of surface energy of (0001) and surface energy difference between (0001) and (1-103) planes. Figure 1