In situ Study of Strain Relaxation Mechanisms During Lattice-mismatched InGaAs/GaAs Growth by X-ray Reciprocal Space Mapping

The in situ X-ray reciprocal space mapping (in situ RSM) of symmetric diffraction measurements during lattice-mismatched InGaAs/GaAs(001) growth were performed to investigate the strain relaxation mechanisms. The evolution of the residual strain and crystal quality were obtained as a function of InGaAs film thickness. Based on the results, the correlation between the strain relaxation and the dislocations during the film growth were evaluated. As a result, film thickness ranges with different relaxation mechanisms were classified, and dominant dislocation behavior in each phase were deduced. From the data obtained in in situ measurements, the quantitative strain relaxation models were proposed based on a dislocation kinetic model developed by Dodson and Tsao. Good agreement between the in situ data and the model ensured the validity of the dominant dislocation behavior deduced from the present study.