Low temperature InP/Si technology: from Si substrate preparation to epitaxial growth

Abstract

InP layers have been grown on Si(001) substrates by using a low temperature process, both for the Si surface preparation (400°C<T Si<550°C) and for the growth process itself (Tg <350°C) using solid source atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy. Strain-free InP on Si layers, with an etch pit density of ~1-2×107 cm-2, showing an excellent morphology and good optical quality have been obtained using a buffer layer involving strain layer superlattices (SLS) of elastically dissimilar materials. This result implies an actual advancement towards monolithic integration of III-V devices to conventional CMOS-Si circuits.