Effect of Strain on the Growth of InAs/GaSb Superlattices: An X-Ray Study

TL;DR

This study uses x-ray diffraction to analyze how strain affects the growth and morphology of InAs/GaSb superlattices, revealing the importance of interface chemistry and strain in nanostructure formation.

Contribution

It provides detailed strain measurements in InAs/GaSb superlattices and links strain characteristics to interface chemistry and superlattice morphology, offering insights into nanostructure growth.

Findings

Strain magnitude and sign influence superlattice morphology.

Interface chemistry affects superlattice structure.

Self-assembled nanostructures can form in systems with small lattice mismatch.

Abstract

We present a detailed x-ray diffraction study of the strain in InAs/GaSb superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The superlattices were grown with either InSb or GaAs interfaces. We show that the superlattice morphology, either planar or nanostructured, is dependent on the chemical bonds at the heterointerfaces. In both cases, the misfit strain has been determined for the superlattice layers and the interfaces. We also determined how the magnitude and sign of this strain is crucial in governing the morphology of the superlattice. Our analysis suggests that the growth of self-assembled nanostructures may be extended to many systems generally thought to have too small a lattice mismatch.