NOVEL BINARY BUFFER LAYERS FOR APPLICATIONS IN THE HETEROEPITAXY OF HIGHLY MISMATCHED IN0.53GA0.47AS EPILAYERS GROWN ON GAAS SUBSTRATES

From the studies of the initial growth mechanisms of ternary InGaAs and binary InAs epilayers on GaAs, a novel binary buffer layer concept is proposed for application in the large lattice-mismatched heteroepitaxy. Although the growth of this binary buffer layer results in three-dimensional island growth at the initial stage, no vertical-type dislocations are generated and most dislocations are annihilated during the island coalescence stage. Using this new concept and selecting InP as the binary buffer, device-quality In0.53Ga0.47As grown on InP-coated GaAs substrates can be achieved. This technique has the potential to be further applied to other heteroepitaxial systems.