Thermodynamic models for molecular-beam epitaxy(MBE) growth of ternary Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductor materials are proposed.These models are in agreement with our experimental materials InGaP/GaAs and InGaAs/InP,and reported GaAsP/GaAs and InAsP/InP in thermodynamic growth.The lattice strain energy △G and thermal decomposition sensitive to growth temperature are demonstrated in the models simultaneously.△G is the function of the alloy composition,which is affected by flux ratio and growth temperature directly.The calculation results reveal that flux ratio and growth temperature mainly influence the growth process.Thermodynamic model of quaternary InGaAsP/GaAs semiconductor material is discussed also.
The molecular beam epitaxial growth of high quality epilayers on (100) InP substrate using a valve phosphorous cracker cell over a wide range of P/In BEP ratio (2.0-7.0) and growth rate (0.437 and 0. 791μm/h). Experimental results show that electrical properties exhibit a pronounced dependence on growth parameters,which are growth rate, P/In BEP ratio, cracker zone temperature, and growth temperature. The parameters have been optimized carefully via the results of Hall measurements. For a typical sample, 77K electron mobility of 4.57 × 10^4 cm^2/(V · s) and electron concentration of 1.55×10^15 cm^-3 have been achieved with an epilayer thickness of 2.35μm at a growth temperature of 370℃ by using a cracking zone temperature of 850℃.