A comparison of strain relief behaviour of InxGa1-xAs alloy on GaAs(001) and (110) substrates

A comparative study on the strain relief behaviour of epitaxially grown InxGa1-xAs (where 0.1 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1) alloys on GaAs (0 0 1) and (1 1 0) were carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD). Three different strain relief mechanisms related to the formation of misfit dislocations (MDs) were observed. The dominant strain relief process can be a single mechanism or a combination of two of the three mechanisms depending on the substrate orientation and the In content.