Two-dimensional III-V nucleation on Si for nonlinear optics

The nucleation of AlGaP and GaP on offcut (100) Si was studied by molecular beam epitaxy for the purpose of improving GaP films on Si. Atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize film quality. Significant reduction in surface rms roughness and antiphase domain annihilation within 30 nm of the III-V/Si interface was observed when using AlGaP as a nucleation layer. This technique was optimized for development of orientation-patterned GaP on Si for nonlinear optics but could also be applied to III-V integration on Si.