Low-temperature laser assisted CBE-growth of AlGaAs

We report preliminary studies of low-temperature (335–400°C) chemical beam epitaxial (CBE) growth of AlxGa1−xAs on GaAs(001) using triethylgallium (TEG), trimethylaminealane (TMAA) and thermally precracked Arsine (AsH3) as precursors. We also report results of Ar+ laser assisted chemical beam epitaxial growth over the same temperature range. The growth rate for both assisted and unassisted growth as a function of substrate temperature, laser power and precursor beam pressures was determined using laser reflectometry in which the Ar+ laser was also used as the probe. In the nonlaser assisted growth Al incorporation is observed to be significantly higher than would be expected at the normal growth temperature of 500°C. With laser assistance the Al concentration, while higher than that at normal growth temperatures, is less than that without laser assistance and the growth rate is higher. These observations, which extended Abernathy's early results to higher nominal Al concentration, are discussed in terms of the relative enhancement of the decomposition of TEG and the alane during laser assistance. Using literature values of the refractive index of AlGaAs alloys at the growth temperature, laser reflectometry was used to monitor both composition and growth rate over a range of growth temperatures. Reflectometry data were compared with the results of Auger Electron Microscopy (AES) and Dektak stylus profiling.