Ding Zhao

An application of half-terrace model to surface ripening of non-bulk GaAs layers

In order to predict the actual quantity of non-bulk GaAs layers after long-time homoepitaxy on GaAs (001) by theoretical calculation, a half-terrace diffusion model based on thermodynamics is used to calculate the ripening time of GaAs layers to form a flat morphology in annealing. To verify the accuracy of the calculation, real space scanning tunneling microscopy images of GaAs surface after different annealing times are obtained and the roughness of the GaAs surface is measured. The results suggest that the half terrace model is an accurate method with a relative error of about 4.1%.

Ripening of single-layer InGaAs islands on GaAs (001)

The present paper discusses our investigation of InGaAs surface morphology annealed for different lengths of time. After annealing for 15 min, the ripening of InGaAs islands is completed. The real space scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images show the evolution of InGaAs surface morphology. A half-terrace diffusion theoretical model based on thermodynamic theory is proposed to estimate the annealing time for obtaining flat morphology. The annealing time calculated by the proposed theory is in agreement with the experimental results.

Surface segregation of InGaAs films by the evolution of reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns

Surface segregation is studied via the evolution of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns under different values of As4 BEP for InGaAs films. When the As4 BEP is set to be zero, the RHEED pattern keeps a 4×3/(n × 3) structure with increasing temperature, and surface segregation takes place until 470 °C. The RHEED pattern develops into a metal-rich (4 × 2) structure as temperature increases to 495 °C. The reason for this is that surface segregation makes the In inside the InGaAs film climb to its surface. With the temperature increasing up to 515 °C, the RHEED pattern turns into a GaAs(2 × 4) structure due to In desorption. While the As4 BEP comes up to a specific value (1.33 × 10-4 Pa−1.33 × 10-3 Pa), the surface temperature can delay the segregation and desorption. We find that As4 BEP has a big influence on surface desorption, while surface segregation is more strongly dependent on temperature than surface desorption.

Step instability of the In0.2Ga0.8As (001) surface during annealing

Anisotropic evolution of the step edges on the compressive-strained In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs(001) surface has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The experiments suggest that step edges are indeed sinuous and protrude somewhere a little way along the [10] direction, which is different from the classical waviness predicted by the theoretical model. We consider that the monatomic step edges undergo a morphological instability induced by the anisotropic diffusion of adatoms on the terrace during annealing, and we improve a kinetic model of step edge based on the classical Burton—Cabrera—Frank (BCF) model in order to determine the normal velocity of step enlargement. The results show that the normal velocity is proportional to the arc length of the peninsula, which is consistent with the first result of our kinetic model. Additionally, a significant phenomenon is an excess elongation along the [10] direction at the top of the peninsula with a higher aspect ratio, which is attributed to the restriction of diffusion lengths.