Enhanced As-Sb intermixing of GaSb monolayer superlattices in low- temperature grown GaAs

As–Sb compositional intermixing was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in GaAs films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at low temperature (LT) and δ doped with antimony. The TEM technique was calibrated by imaging the as-grown films with δ layers containing various amounts of Sb. The calibration allowed us to deduce the effective As–Sb interdiffusion coefficient from apparent thickness of the Sb δ layers in the films subjected to isochronal anneals at 400–600 °C. The As–Sb intermixing in LT GaAs was found to be much enhanced when compared to conventional material. Its temperature dependence yields a diffusion coefficient of DAs–Sb=2×10−14 exp(−0.62±0.15 eV/kt) cm2 s−1. Since the kick-out mechanism operating under equilibrium conditions is valid for As–Sb interdiffusion in GaAs, the enhanced intermixing was attributed to an oversaturation of arsenic self-interstitials in the LT GaAs films. The effective activation energy for As–Sb interdiffusion in LT GaAs seems to be reasonably close to the m...

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