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Transmission electron microscopy investigation of segregation and critical floating-layer content of indium for island formation in InGaAs
We have investigated InGaAs layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on
GaAs(001) by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence
spectroscopy. InGaAs layers with In-concentrations of 16, 25 and 28 % and
respective thicknesses of 20, 22 and 23 monolayers were deposited at 535 C. The
parameters were chosen to grow layers slightly above and below the transition
between the two- and three-dimensional growth mode. In-concentration profiles
were obtained from high-resolution TEM images by composition evaluation by
lattice fringe analysis. The measured profiles can be well described applying
the segregation model of Muraki et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 61 (1992) 557].
Calculated photoluminescence peak positions on the basis of the measured
concentration profiles are in good agreement with the experimental ones.
Evaluating experimental In-concentration profiles it is found that the
transition from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional growth mode occurs
if the indium content in the In-floating layer exceeds 1.1+/-0.2 monolayers.
The measured exponential decrease of the In-concentration within the cap layer
on top of the islands reveals that the In-floating layer is not consumed during
island formation. The segregation efficiency above the islands is increased
compared to the quantum wells which is explained tentatively by
strain-dependent lattice-site selection of In. In addition, In0.25Ga0.75As
quantum wells were grown at different temperatures between 500 oC and 550 oC.
The evaluation of concentration profiles shows that the segregation efficiency
increases from R=0.65 to R=0.83.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, sbmitted in Phys. Rev.
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