Quantitative correlation of interfacial contamination and antiphase domain boundary density in GaAs on Si(100)

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 449 - 456
• Main Authors: Barrett, C. S. C, Lind, A. G, Bao, X, Ye, Z, Ban, K. Y, Martin, P, Sanchez, E, Xin, Y, Jones, K. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: 50th Anniversary; Antiphase boundaries; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical vapor deposition; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; cleaning; Contamination; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Density; Epitaxial growth; Epitaxy; Etchants; gallium; Gallium arsenide; mass spectrometry; Materials Science; Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition; Organic chemicals; Organic chemistry; oxygen; Polymer Sciences; Scanning electron microscopy; Scanning transmission electron microscopy; Secondary ion mass spectrometry; silicon; Silicon substrates; Solid Mechanics; Transmission electron microscopy; vapors; GaAs Growth; Carbon Contamination; GaAs Film; GaAs; Carbon Dose
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-015-9334-0

The role of interfacial contamination on antiphase domain boundary (APB) formation in GaAs grown epitaxially on Si(100) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition was investigated. The pre-growth cleaning of the Si substrate was varied to affect the relative amount of residual surface contamination across the wafer. APB density in the as-grown GaAs film was examined with the aid of a selective APB etchant. The interfacial oxygen and carbon concentrations were determined using secondary ion mass spectrometry. It was found that the APB density increased significantly from 0.14 to 3.2 μm⁻¹ between the center and the edge of the wafer. Over this distance, the integrated carbon concentration at the GaAs/Si interface increased by an order of magnitude and the integrated oxygen concentration, although two orders of magnitude lower than carbon, also increased by a factor of six. Analysis of the GaAs/Si interface with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy showed a direct association of APBs with amorphous interfacial particles. The particles are likely carbon-based, possibly SiC, and thus residual carbon contamination is believed to be the primary contributor to increased APB formation.