Bi surfactant effects on ordering in GaInP grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy

The effect of the isoelectronic surfactant Bi on surface structure and ordering has been studied for GaInP semiconductor alloys grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy. A small amount of Bi (trimethylbismuth) added during growth is found to result in disordering for layers grown using conditions that would otherwise produce highly ordered materials. An order of magnitude increase in the step velocity was observed by atomic-force microscopy. Bi completely eliminates three-dimensional islands on the singular (001) surface. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.