Thermal stability of AlInAs/GaInAs/InP heterostructures

Abstract

The origin of the thermal instability of the AlInAs/GaInAs system is identified and a novel method to recover the thermal degradation is also demonstrated. The thermal diffusion of fluorine into the Si-doped AlInAs layer is found to be the main cause of the electrical deterioration of this system. This finding has led to a method to recover the thermal degradation by purging the fluorine off using the reannealing in the ultrahigh-vacuum condition. This method is now potentially becoming a good candidate as a tip for the AlInAs/GaInAs devices fabrication including laser diode and high electron mobility transistor.