Modeling and characterization of AlGaInAs and related materials using selective area growth by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 298; pp. 28 - 31
• Main Authors: Décobert, J., Dupuis, N., Lagrée, P.Y., Lagay, N., Ramdane, A., Ougazzaden, A., Poingt, F., Cuisin, C., Kazmierski, C.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: A3. Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy; A3. Selective epitaxy; B2. Semiconducting III–V materials; Biomechanics; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid mechanics; Materials science; Mechanics; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Other semiconductors; Physics; Specific materials; Thermics; Vapor phase epitaxy; growth from vapor phase; 81.15.Kk; A3. Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy; 42.82.−m; A3. Selective epitaxy; B2. Semiconducting III–V materials; 81.05.Ea; Aluminium arsenides; Gallium arsenides; Inorganic compounds; Selective area; Theoretical study; VPE; Selectivity; 42.82.-m; 81.05.Ea; 81.15.Kk; III-V compound; Indium arsenides; Scattering lengths; Selective growth; Vapor phase; MOVPE method; Low pressure; Modelling; A3. Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy; A3. Selective epitaxy; B2. Semiconducting III-V materials; Concentration distribution; III-V semiconductors
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2006.10.005

Thicknesses and compositions of AlGaInAs-based layers grown by low-pressure metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE) in the regime of selective area growth (SAG) have been measured and calculated. In this study, we have grown InAs, GaAs and AlAs binary bulk layers on patterned InAs and GaAs substrates, respectively, in order to assess separately the vapor-phase diffusion (VPD) length ( D/ k) of indium, gallium and aluminum species. Special care has been taken in the evaluation of the Aluminum D/ k ratio, on which little information was available. A 3D VPD model has been used to predict the composition and thickness profiles of various alloys. The calculated profiles have been compared to the experimental ones for GaInAs, AlInAs, AlGaInAs layers and GaAlAs layers deposited on patterned InP and GaAs substrates, respectively. The good agreement between modeling and experiment, together with the perfect selectivity obtained for all the different alloys, holds for the validity of the calculated D/ k ratio of Al, Ga and In species. In MOVPE-SAG, the efficiency of a computational model is a key issue for the engineering of future SAG integrated optical devices.