Temperature-dependent aluminum incorporation in Al<i>x</i>Ga1−<i>x</i>As layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Abstract

The temperature-dependent behavior of the solid composition xs of AlxGa1−xAs has systematically been studied as a function of gas phase composition xg in an optimized horizontal metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy reactor at atmospheric pressure. Up to a temperature of 660 °C the Al incorporation is constant but slightly exceeds the Ga incorporation. Above this temperature the Al incorporation strongly increases with temperature. This behavior is most probably related to a change in growth mechanism from mass transport limited growth to a regime where the growth is controlled by thermodynamics, especially for the gallium species.