Characterization of optical and structural properties of GaAsN layers grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Abstract GaAsN layers were grown on GaAs(100) substrates by MBE employing a radio frequency (RF) plasma nitrogen source, and solid sources for Ga and As. The growth temperature was varied from 420 to 600 °C, and the GaAsN growth mode was in-situ monitored by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The optical properties of the layers were studied by photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR), phase modulated ellipsometry (PME), and photoluminescence. For the growth temperature of 420 °C the films grew in a three-dimensional (3D) mode as indicated by the appearance of transmission spots in the RHEED patterns. In contrast, GaAsN layers grown at higher temperatures presented a two-dimensional (2D) growth mode. These GaAsN layers are pseudomorphic according to high resolution x- ray diffraction (HRXRD). The PR spectra of all samples exhibited Franz-Keldish oscillations (FKO) above of the GaAs band-gap energy. From these oscillations we obtained the built-in internal electric field intensity (F int ) at the GaAsN/GaAs interface. In the low energy region of the PR spectra we observed the transitions associated to the fundamental band-gap of the GaAs1-xNx layers. The variation of the GaAsN fundamental band -gap obtained by PR as a function of the N content was explained according the band anticrossing model (BAC). On the other hand, the E1 and E1+ ∆E1 critical points were obtained from the analysis of spectra of the imaginary part of the dielectric function obtained by PME. We observed a shift of these critical points to higher energies with the increase of N content, which was explained by a combination of strain and alloying effects.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Pulzara-Mora,A., Cruz-Hernández,E., Rojas-Ramirez,J., Contreras-Guerrero,R., Meléndez-Lira,M., Falcony-Guajardo,C., López-López,M., Aguilar-Frutis,M. A., Vidal,M. A.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Sociedad Mexicana de Ciencia y Tecnología de Superficies y Materiales A.C. 2005
Online Access:	http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-35212005000300027
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