Early stages of low temperature epitaxial growth of InSb on GaAs

Early stages of the growth of the low‐temperature InSb under‐layer in the two‐stage method of the heteroepitaxial growth of InSb layers on GaAs substrates are studied. The investigated orientations are: (100), (111)A, (111)B, (110) planes and (110) plane misoriented by 3° towards the direction. The investigated deposits are prepared by the flash evaporation method. InSb deposits having an average layer thickness between 2 nm and 10 nm consist of separate grains with a grain diameter of around 30 nm. Independent of the substrate orientation, they are oriented in conformity with the substrate, confirming that the initial mode of the growth is that of Stransky‐Krastanov. Annealing of the layers at 470 °C improves the crystallinity of the grains. The same annealing of 30 nm thick layers results in a decrease in their resistance and the surface roughness. The greatest changes are observed in the (100) oriented layers, and the smallest changes are observed in the (110) oriented layers. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)