The effect of Bi composition on the properties of InP1-xBix grown by liquid phase epitaxy

InP1-xBix epilayers (x >= 1.2%) on InP (001) are grown reproducibly by liquid phase epitaxy with conventional solution baking in a H-2 environment. The Bi composition and surface morphology of the grown layers are studied by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively. High-resolution x-ray diffraction is used to characterize the lattice parameters and the crystalline quality of the layers. 10 K photoluminescence measurements indicate three clearly resolved peaks in undoped InP layers with band-to-band transition at 1.42 eV which is redshifted with Bi incorporation in the layer with a maximum band gap reduction of 50 meV/% Bi. The effect is attributed to the interaction between the valence band edge and Bi-related defect states as is explained here by valence-band anticrossing model. Room temperature Hall measurements indicate that the mobility of the layer is not significantly affected for Bi concentration up to 1.2%. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.