Real-time optical monitoring of epitaxial growth: Pulsed chemical beam epitaxy of GaP and InP homoepitaxy and heteroepitaxy on Si.

We present a study of the real-time monitoring of the homoepitaxial growth of GaP, InP, and the growth of InP/GaP and GaP/Si(001) heterostructures, combining single wavelength p-polarized reflectance (PRS), reflectance-difference spectroscopy (RDS), and laser light scattering (LLS) during pulsed chemical beam epitaxy with tertiarybutylphosphine, triethylgallium, and trimethylindium sources. The growth rate and the bulk optical properties are revealed by PRS with submonolayer resolution over 1000A of film growth. The surface topography is monitored by LLS providing additional information on the evolution of the surface roughness as well as the nucleation/growth mechanism. The optical surface anisotropy, which is related to surface reconstruction and/or surface morphology, is monitored by RDS and compared with the results of PRS and LLS. The results are discussed with respect to the deposition kinetics, in particular as a function of the V:III flux ratio. The pulsed supply of chemical precursors causes a periodic alteration of the surface composition, which is observed as correlated periodic changes in the RD and PR signals, confirming the high sensitivity of both methods to surface chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]