Comparative study of the GaAs (113), (115), (001), ((1)over-bar(1)over-bar(5)over-bar), ((1)over-bar(1)over-bar(3)over-bar), and (110) surfaces by atomic force microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, and reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy

We have performed growth and surface studies using atomic force microscopy (AFM), reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED) on GaAs (113), (115), (001), ((115) over bar), ((113) over bar), and (110) surfaces in metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE). All surfaces except (115), exhibited at least two different reconstructions depending on the arsenic coverage. The (113) surface showed a growth condition dependent corrugation, while the (001), ((113) over bar), and (110) surfaces have a flat surface with monoatomic steps. The ((115) over bar), and (115) exhibit islands. The activation energies and the reaction orders for the transition between different reconstructions were determined for the GaAs (110), (113), and (115) surfaces by fitting RAS transients obtained during arsenic desorption at different temperatures. In all cases we found a second-order time dependence proportional to l/kt with an activation energy of (2.4 +/- 0.3) eV for (110), (1.50 +/- 0.02) eV for (113), and (2.09 +/- 0.09) eV for (115) surfaces. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.