A reflection high-energy electron diffraction study of (100) GaAs vicinal surfaces

Abstract

The RHEED specular beam profiles produced by GaAs vicinal surfaces are examined and correlated with the surface topography. It is found that the shape of split peaks produced with the incident beam normal to step edges is a measure of surface orientation over lengths on the order of terrace widths, but is not sensitive to short range roughness on the terraces themselves. The profile produced with the incident beam parallel to step edges is sensitive to terrace roughness and can be correlated with RHEED intensity oscillation behavior. It is also found that reconstruction disorder can influence the specular beamwidth.