Metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy/etching of III–V semiconductors

Etching of GaSb by TDMASb is observed on the surface of GaSb and GaAs at appropriate temperatures (several hundred degrees C) in a MOMBE chamber. RHEED intensity observation shows that the layer-by-layer mode etching takes place. When Sb, is supplied simultaneously, the etching rate decreases and the activation energy of etching increases. Etching reaction largely depends on surface coverage of Sb. Etching rate of GaSb by TDMASb was almost independent of crystal surface orientation. When TEGa is supplied simultaneously with TDMASb, growth takes place and the growth rate on the (N11) surfaces (N = 5, 4, 3) was much higher compared with other surfaces. Grown samples indicate high crystal quality. BDMAAsCl also shows the etching effect on GaAs, InAs and GaSb. By using this etching effect, InAs quantum dot structures having no wetting layer were fabricated. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.