COMPOSITIONAL DISORDERING BY SOLID-PHASE REGROWTH

The principle of solid phase regrowth (SPR) has been used to induce compositional disordering in AlGaAs/GaAs superlattice structures in the temperature range of 400-degrees-C (30 min)-650-degrees-C (30 s) as compared to the conventional diffusion method in the temperature range of 600-850-degrees-C for hours. The SPR process is simple to implement, requiring only thin-film deposition and annealing. The crystal quality as well as the photoluminescence signals emerging from the disordered region generally improve with increasing processing temperature. The simplicity, the low process temperature, and the short process duration of the SPR technique are distinct advantages for optoelectronic applications, especially for self-aligned devices.