Heterostructures in GaInP grown using a change in Te doping

In organometallic vapor phase epitaxy, changes in growth conditions can be used to modulate the extent of CuPt ordering and, hence, the band gap energy of GaInP. One method is to add Te during growth. An increase in the band gap energy of 0.1 eV due to a decrease in ordering has been obtained by increasing the input pressure of diethyltelluride from 0 to 8x10(-6) Torr, which corresponds to a doping concentration of 6x10(17) cm(-3). This simple procedure offers an attractive method to grow quantum wells (QWs) and superlattices, which are useful for band gap engineering, by modulating the input pressure of the Te precursor. Various heterostructures with abrupt interfaces were successfully grown with interruptions at the interfaces between the Te-doped and undoped GaInP layers. QWs as thin as 10 nm can be clearly seen from transmission electron microscope images. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(00)07411-9].