Large Lattice Mismatch Epitaxy

1995 ◽  
Vol 410 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mahajan

ABSTRACTDuring the early stages of lattice mismatch epitaxy, island growth is observed in several systems. The evolution of this morphology is attributed to a large value of the substrate/layer interface energy. Origins of misfit and threading dislocations are also considered. Nucleation of misfit dislocations could occur either from steps present on surfaces of islands or from substrate/island edges. Arms of glide loops terminating at the surface in the first case form threading segments in the layer, whereas the coalescence of islands in which misfit dislocations are not aligned with respect to each other lead to threading dislocations in the second case. Existing approaches for lowering threading dislocation densities are also evaluated. A novel approach involving controlled, self-assembly of islands is presented to achieve the preceding objective.

Author(s):  
W. Qian ◽  
M. Skowronski ◽  
R. Kaspi ◽  
M. De Graef

GaSb thin film grown on GaAs is a promising substrate for fabrication of electronic and optical devices such as infrared photodetectors. However, these two materials exhibit a 7.8% lattice constant mismatch which raises concerns about the amount of extended defects introduced during strain relaxation. It was found that, unlike small lattice mismatched systems such as InxGa1-xAs/GaAs or GexSi1-x/Si(100), the GaSb/GaAs interface consists of a quasi-periodic array of 90° misfit dislocations, and the threading dislocation density is low despite its large lattice mismatch. This paper reports on the initial stages of GaSb growth on GaAs(001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In particular, we discuss the possible formation mechanism of misfit dislocations at the GaSb/GaAs(001) interface and the origin of threading dislocations in the GaSb epilayer.GaSb thin films with nominal thicknesses of 5 to 100 nm were grown on GaAs(001) by MBE at a growth rate of about 0.8 monolayers per second.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 1840022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minglei Cai ◽  
Tedi Kujofsa ◽  
Xinkang Chen ◽  
Md Tanvirul Islam ◽  
John E. Ayers

Several simple models have been developed for the threading dislocation behavior in heteroepitaxial semiconductor materials. Tachikawa and Yamaguchi [Appl. Phys. Lett., 56, 484 (1990)] and Romanov et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett., 69, 3342 (1996)] described models for the annihilation and coalescence of threading dislocations in uniform-composition layers, and Kujofsa et al. [J. Electron. Mater., 41, 2993 (2013)] extended the annihilation and coalescence model to compositionally-graded and multilayered structures by including the misfit dislocation-threading dislocation interactions. However, an important limitation of these previous models is that they involve empirical parameters. The goal of this work is to develop a predictive model for annihilation and coalescence of threading dislocations which is based on the dislocation interaction length Lint. In the first case if only in-plane glide is considered the interaction length is equal to the length of misfit dislocation segments while in the second case glide and climb are considered and the interaction length is a function of the distance from the interface, the length of misfit dislocations, and the density of the misfit dislocations. In either case the interaction length may be calculated using a model for dislocation flow. Knowledge of the dislocation interaction length allows predictive calculations of the threading dislocation densities in metamorphic device structures and is of great practical importance. Here we demonstrate the latter model based on glide and climb. Future work should compare the two models to determine which is more relevant to typical device heterostructures.


1992 ◽  
Vol 280 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Ballal ◽  
L. Salamanca-Riba ◽  
D. L. Partin

ABSTRACTIn this paper we investigate the defect morphology and misfit strain in InAs films grown on (100) InP substrates using two-step metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). High quality InAs films were obtained despite the 3.2% lattice-mismatch between the InAs film and the InP substrate. Cross-sectional and plan-view transmission electron microscopy has been used to characterize the ∼3μm thick InAs films. Almost all the lattice mismatch is accomodated by an orthogonal array of pure edge Lomer dislocations which are favored over the 60° type since they are more efficient in relieving misfit strain. In addition to misfit dislocations, threading dislocations were observed propagating through the film. Most of the threading dislocations were 60° type dislocations along the < 211 > and < 110 > directions on inclined {111} planes. The threading dislocations originate from island coalescence during film growth. High resolution electron microscopy shows the epitaxial relationship between the film and the substrate and reveals an abrupt and sharp interface with periodic dislocation cores.


1999 ◽  
Vol 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kvit ◽  
A. K. Sharma ◽  
J. Narayan

AbstractLarge lattice mismatch between GaN and α-Al2O3 (15%) leads to the possibility of high threading dislocation densities in the nitride layers grown on sapphire. This investigation focused on defect reduction in GaN epitaxial thin layer was investigated as a function of processing variables. The microstructure changes from threading dislocations normal to the basal plane to stacking faults in the basal plane. The plan-view TEM and the corresponding selected-area diffraction patterns show that the film is single crystal and is aligned with a fixed epitaxial orientation to the substrate. The epitaxial relationship was found to be (0001)GaN∥(0001)Sap and [01-10]GaN∥[-12-10]Sap. This is equivalent to a 30° rotation in the basal (0001) plane. The film is found to contain a high density of stacking faults with average spacing 15 nm terminated by partial dislocations. The density of partial dislocations was estimated from plan-view TEM image to be 7×109 cm−2. The cross-section image of GaN film shows the density of stacking faults is highest in the vicinity of the interface and decreases markedly near the top of the layer. Inverted domain boundaries, which are almost perpendicular to the film surface, are also visible. The concentration of threading dislocation is relatively low (∼;2×108 cm−2), compared to misfit dislocations. The average distance between misfit dislocations was found to be 22 Å. Contrast modulations due to the strain near misfit dislocations are seen in high-resolution cross-sectional TCM micrograph of GaN/α-Al2O3 interface. This interface is sharp and does not contain any transitional layer. The interfacial region has a high density of Shockley and Frank partial dislocations. Mechanism of accommodation of tensile, sequence and tilt disorder through partial dislocation generation is discussed. In order to achieve low concentration of threading dislocations we need to establish favorable conditions for some stacking disorder in thin layers above the film-substrate interface region.


2002 ◽  
Vol 737 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Ertekin ◽  
P.A. Greaney ◽  
T. D. Sands ◽  
D. C. Chrzan

ABSTRACTThe quality of lattice-mismatched semiconductor heterojunctions is often limited by the presence of misfit dislocations. Nanowire geometries offer the promise of creating highly mismatched, yet dislocation free heterojunctions. A simple model, based upon the critical thickness model of Matthews and Blakeslee for misfit dislocation formation in planar heterostructures, illustrates that there exists a critical nanowire radius for which a coherent heterostructured nanowire system is unstable with respect to the formation of misfit dislocations. The model indicates that within the nanowire geometry, it should be possible to create perfect heterojunctions with large lattice-mismatch.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 1684-1690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina González-Mañas ◽  
Beatriz Vallejo

Boron-doped diamond epilayers grown over diamond substrates have a different lattice parameter from the undoped diamond substrate, which introduces a lattice mismatch between substrates and epilayers. This can generate misfit dislocations at the interface when the epilayer reaches a certain critical thickness. For a boron concentration of about 1 × 1020 atoms cm−3, the calculated lattice mismatch is about 1.3 × 10−4 and the critical thickness is of the order of 0.2 µm. In the epilayers studied, grown over high-pressure high-temperature 1b (001) substrates, the lattice mismatch and the epilayer thickness are 1.3 × 10−4, 30 µm and 6.5 × 10−4, 4 µm. The epitaxial strain has been relaxed by the generation of two orthogonal misfit dislocation systems. These are edge dislocations parallel to the [100] and [010] directions with a Burgers vector making an angle of 45° with the (001) interface. Their lengths are 40–60 µm and their lineal densities 200–240 cm−1. They are heterogeneously nucleated, propagated in the form of half-loops along the slip planes (011) and (101), respectively, and related mainly to 〈111〉 threading dislocations emerging from octahedral growth sectors. Another kind of half-loop originates from the substrate growth sector boundaries. Limited X-ray topography has been demonstrated to be a very useful tool to discriminate between substrate and epilayer defects when their lattice mismatch is not sufficient to separate such defects in conventional Lang topography. X-ray section topography has confirmed the presence of [001] dislocations in the epilayers and the misfit half-loops related to threading dislocations propagating from the interface.


1989 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Kiely ◽  
A. Rockett ◽  
J-I. Chyi ◽  
H. Morkoc

ABSTRACTThe initial stages of heteroepitaxy of InSb on GaAs(100) grown by MBE have been studied by transmission electron microscopy. Three dimensional InSb island growth occurs in which the majority of the 14.6% misfit strain is accommodated by a square array of a/2<011= edge-type misfit dislocations. The implications of each island having a well defined defect array before coalescence into a continuous epilayer are discussed. Some 600-type a/2<101= interfacial defects and associated threading dislocations are also observed in coalesced films and possible reasons for their existence are explained. A strong asymmetrical distribution of planar defects in the InSb islands is observed and the origin of the asymmetry is discussed. Finally some evidence for local intermixing in the vicinity of the interface is presented.


2001 ◽  
Vol 673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.W. Zhang ◽  
T.C. Wang ◽  
S.J. Chua

ABSTRACTA kinetic model is presented to simulate the strain relaxation in the GexSi1−x/Si(100) systems. In the model, the nucleation, propagation and annihilation of threading dislocations, the interaction between threading dislocations and misfit dislocations, and surface roughness are taken into account. The model reproduces a wide range of experimental results. The implications of its predictions on the threading dislocation reduction during the growth processes of the heteoepitaxial thin film systems are discussed.


Author(s):  
Andrew Robison ◽  
Lei Lei ◽  
Sowmya Ramarapu ◽  
Marisol Koslowski

Crystalline films grown epitaxially on a substrate consisting of a different crystalline material are of considerable interest in optoelectronic devices and the semiconductor industry. The film and substrate have in general different lattice parameters. This lattice mismatch affects the quality of interfaces and can lead to very high densities of misfit dislocations. Here we study the evolution of these misfit dislocations in a single crystal thin film. In particular, we consider the motion of a dislocation gliding on its slip plane within the film and its interaction with multiple obstacles and sources. Our results show the effect of obstacles such as precipitates and other dislocations on the evolution of a threading dislocation in a metallic thin film. We also show that the material becomes harder as the film thickness decreases in excellent agreement with experiments.


1988 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Eaglesham ◽  
M. Aindow ◽  
R.C. Pond

AbstractA Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) study is presented of GaAs on Si (100) and CdTe on GaAs (100), and the implications for defect nucleation mechanisms are discussed. MOCVD GaAs/Si is shown to grow by island nucleation followed by 3D growth. Single islands are free of inversion domain boundaries (or “APBs”) implying that a single domain is able to grow over a demi-step on the substrate surface during this 3D growth. Misfit dislocations are shown to be edge type during island growth, with 60° type being generated at island junctions. The predominant threading dislocations are found to have inclined a/2 <110> Burgers vectors. The implied mechanisms for the generation of both misfit and threading dislocations are discussed. In MOCVD CdTe/GaAs the microstructure is shown to have a number of qualitatively similar features; in addition, study of this much larger misfit system allows us to deduce a possible explanation for misorientation effects in these systems.


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