Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy of coherent self-assembled InAs nanometer-sized islands in InP(001)

The metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy of coherent self-assembled InAs islands on InP(001) is demonstrated. Samples are characterized using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy at 77 K. The deposition of similar to 2.4-4.8 monolayers (ML) of InAs at 500 degrees C followed by a 30 s growth interruption results in the formation of coherent islands whose average diameter is 30-35 nm with a standard deviation of 8 nm and whose areal density is (3-4)x10(10) cm(-2). The PL emission is centered at 0.79 eV and has a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 90 meV. When the nominal deposited thickness is increased to similar to 9.6 ML, the average island diameter increases to similar to 120 nm while the areal density decreases to similar to 10(9) cm(-2). The resulting PL is then centered at 0.83 eV with a FWHM of 130 meV and also displays a peak at 1.23 eV which is attributed to an InAs wetting layer similar to 2 ML in thickness. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.