Delayed relaxation by surfactant action in highly strained III-V semiconductor epitaxial layers.

It is demonstrated that the concept of surfactant applies to the epitaxial growth of highly strained III-V semiconductors. The pseudomorphic growth regime of InAs on GaAs(001) is extended from 1.5 to 6 monolayers by the use of Te as surfactant. This delayed plastic relaxation of the strain is correlated with the modification of the growth mode via surface energy minimization.