Characterization of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells and quantum wires by chemical lattice imaging

In this study a quantum well/quantum wire (QW/QWR) structure grown on a grating of V-grooves has been characterized by a technique related to chemical lattice imaging. This technique makes it possible to extract quantitative information from high resolution images.The QW/QWR structure was grown on a GaAs substrate patterned with a grating of V-grooves. The growth rate was approximately three monolayers per second without growth interruption at the interfaces. On this substrate a barrier of nominally Al0.35 Ga0.65 As was deposited to a thickness of approximately 300 nm using metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy . On top of the Al0.35Ga0.65As barrier a 3.5 nm GaAs quantum well was deposited and to conclude the structure an additional approximate 300 nm Al0.35Ga0.65 As was deposited. The GaAs QW deposited in this manner turns out to be significantly thicker at the bottom of the grooves giving a QWR running along the grooves. During the growth of the barriers an approximately 30 nm wide Ga-rich region is formed at the bottom of the grooves giving a Ga-rich stripe extending from the bottom of each groove to the surface.