Experimental evidence for a stable GaAs surface near (113)

GaAs surfaces vicinal to (113) with a continuous range of misorientation angles up to 11.5° in all azimuthal directions were created by grinding a spherical depression into (113) oriented samples. Thin homoepitaxial layers were grown onto these samples by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and the surfaces were in situ studied by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The surface quality in the depression was verified by reproducing LEED patterns of the (113) and (114) surfaces. A stable GaAs surface was found that is oriented from (113) by 9°±2° towards [11̅0̅]. STM and LEED images of this surface are presented

Atomically resolved structure of InAs quantum dots

InAs was grown by molecular-beam epitaxy onto GaAs(001) until quantum dots (QDs) formed. At this point, the growth was interrupted and the uncovered QDs were investigated in situ by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Atomically resolved STILI images of the QDs revealed that four dominating bounding facets occur, whose Miller indices were identified to be {137}. The assignment of the facet orientation was based on experiments on planar high Miller index GaAs surfaces. In addition, the latter experiments indicated that (137) facets are thermodynamically stable only up to a certain size. This conclusion is assumed to explain the sharp size distribution of InAs QDs

Step structure on GaAs(113)A studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

The GaAs(113)A surface was prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy and in situ characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). The occurrence of an (8×1) reconstruction as proposed by Wassermeier et al. [Phys. Rev. B 51, 14 721 (1995)] was confirmed. Overview STM images reveal a striking anisotropy in the step structure of this surface. While steps along [332¯] (the 1× direction of the reconstruction) are straight for up to 2000 Å, steps along [11¯0] are extremely rough. In this direction, kinks occur typically after less than 100 Å. The ratio of the respective lateral step densities is 8±4. This anisotropy is explained by applying the electron counting rule (ECR) to one-dimensional islands. While islands along [332¯] fulfil the ECR, it is violated by islands along [11¯0]. Thus, if structures formed additionally perpendicular to step edges along [332¯], they would be energetically unfavorable. Hence, growth occurs mainly by propagation along [332¯]. It is suggested that the determining structural element of GaAs(113)A−(8×1) is the zigzag chain of As dimers

Quenching of the E2 phonon line in the Raman spectra of wurtzite GaAs nanowires caused by the dielectric polarization contrast

We investigate the Raman intensity of EH2 phonons in wurtzite GaAs nanowire ensembles as well as single nanowires as a function of excitation wavelength. For nanowires with radii in the range of 25 nm, an almost complete quenching of the EH2 phonon line is observed for excitation wavelengths larger than 600 nm. The observed behavior is quantitatively explained by the dielectric polarization contrast for the coupling of light into the GaAs nanowires. Our results define the limits of Raman spectroscopy for the detection of the wurtzite phase in semiconductor nanowires