The influence of a hydride preflow on the crystalline quality of InP grown on exactly oriented (100)Si

Several microns thick epitaxial InP films have been successfully deposited on exactly oriented (100) Si substrates by metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy. We have studied the influence of a hydride preflow before buffer growth on the crystalline quality of the InP by measuring the surface roughness, by X-ray diffractometry, TEM and SEM investigations, and by detection of anti-phase-domains. Generally, an AsH₃ preflow instead of PH₃ improved the crystalline perfection considerably. Furthermore, if AsH₃ is introduced only during cool-down between 700 and 900° C after the thermal cleaning step anti-phase-domain free InP is grown.