Effect of substrate misorientation on the material properties of GaAs/Al(0.3)Ga(0.7)As tunnel diodes

Abstract

The effect of substrate misorientation on the material quality of the N(++)-GaAs/P(++)-AlGaAs tunnel diodes (TDs) grown on these substrates is investigated. It is found that the misorientation influences both surface roughness and interface properties of the N(++)-GaAs/P(++)-AlGaAs TDs. Smooth surface (rms roughness: 1.54 angstrom) and sharp interface for the GaAs/Al(0.3)Ga(0.7)As TDs were obtained when the (100) tilted 10 degrees off toward [111] GaAs substrate was used. Besides, the oxygen content in N(++)-GaAs and P(++)-AlGaAs layers grown on the 10 degrees off GaAs substrates was reduced due to the reduction of sticking coefficient and number of anisotropic sites. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3525158]