Growth, Defects and Control in Heterostructure Materials

Epitaxial growth of compound semiconductor materials suitable for heterostructure field-effect transistors is a demanding procedure. To realize reproducible and uniform characteristics in individual devices and integrated circuits, control over all aspects of the crystal growth process is required; e.g., growth rates, material compositions, and impurity concentrations. 

Detailed characterization of the molecular beam expitaxy (MBE) growth of GaAs-AlGaAs materials reveals control within a few monolayers per unique layer in the material structure.