Molecular-beam epitaxy of high-quality ZnSe homo-epitaxial layers on solid-phase recrystallized substrates

We study through reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy the molecular-beam epitaxy of ZnSe homoepitaxial layers on solid-phase recrystallized substrates. We show that with a proper ex situ substrate polishing a two-dimensional (2D) RHEED pattern is readily observed when introducing the substrate into the growth chamber at low temperature. We demonstrate that the in situ pre-growth treatment has a dramatic influence on ZnSe nucleation and that a suitable preparation leads to direct 2D growth of ZnSe layers which exhibit superior optical properties. The PL spectra are dominated by the near-band edge emission, with no deep-level and defect-related Lines. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.