Stranski-Krastanow self-organized growth of nano-scale ZnTe islands on (0 0 1)GaAs by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy

The Stranski–Krastanow (SK) growth by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy of self-organized ZnTe nanoislands on homoepitaxial (0 0 1)GaAs is demonstrated. The −7.4% lattice mismatch of the ZnTe/GaAs heterostructure leads to a strain driven distribution of nanoscale ZnTe islands on top of a two-dimensionally (2D) grown wetting layer. Atomic force microscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry are used to determine the island dimensions, the ZnTe mean coverage and the thickness of the 2D wetting layer. The island average density and diameter, as well as their aspect ratio are about 520 μm-2, 13.6 nm and 0.20, respectively, in the case of a 1.20 monolayer (ML) thick wetting layer and a growth rate of 0.074 ML s-1. Preliminary data on the effects of different growth rates on the island average densities are also reported. © 1998 Chapman & Hall