Improved MOCVD Growth of GaAs on Si.

In the direct growth of GaAs on Si by MOCVD the overall quality of the heteroepitaxial film is controlled to a large extent by the growth parameters of the initial GaAs buffer layer. We have investigated the structural properties of this layer using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and X-ray double crystal diffractometry. The crystallinity of the buffer layer was observed to improve with increasing layer thickness in the range 10-100nm, and then to rapidly degrade for thicker layers. High temperature (750 OC) annealing of the buffer layers resulted in considerable reordering of all but the thick (>200 nm) layers. Alteration of the usual GaAs/Si growth sequence to include an in-situ anneal of the buffer layer after growth interruption yielded GaAs films with improved structural, optical and electrical properties.