High-resolution x-ray diffraction investigations of highly mismatched II-VI quantum wells

High-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) was used to systematically investigate CdSe and ZnTe quantum wells one to three monolayers thick sandwiched between a ZnSe buffer and cap layer grown at different substrate temperatures. For comparison high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements were performed which were evaluated by digital analysis of lattice images. The x-ray diffraction profiles show typically two main layer peaks. Their intensity ratio depends critically on the quantum well thickness and varies only weakly with the thickness of the ZnSe layers. The total Cd or Te content determined from comparisons of experimental and simulated (004) omega-2 theta scans is well confirmed by the results from digital analysis of HRTEM lattice images. For quantum well thicknesses larger than 1.5 (ZnTe) or 2.0 (CdSe) monolayers, no simulation parameters could be found to achieve good agreement between theoretical and measured diffraction profiles. This transition is more clearly visible in diffraction profiles of asymmetrical reflections. By HRTEM measurements, this could be correlated to the occurrence of stacking faults at these thicknesses. The formation of quantum islands detected by HRTEM was not reflected in the HRXRD omega-2 theta scans.