Crack healing during molecular-beam-epitaxy growth of GaP∕GaAs thin films

A crack-healing phenomenon occurring during epitaxial growth of GaP films on a GaAs substrate was studied by transmission electron microscopy. The process is driven by a decrease in the surface energy of the cracked film. The results indicate that the fundamental mechanism operating during healing is the deposition and diffusion of Ga and P atoms onto the crack surface in the GaP lattice, combined with self-diffusion of GaAs within the crack tip in the GaAs substrate. This process is not fully completed in the GaP∕GaAs system; unhealed crack tips located in the GaAs substrate always remain in the structure. Development of cracks and subsequent crack healing during film growth lead to a decrease in residual stress in the film. New cracks are formed at an equilibrium spacing which increases with increasing film thickness. A modified expression for predicting the relation between crack spacing and film thickness in epitaxial films is proposed.