MBE growth of GaP on a Si substrate

It is shown that single-crystal GaP buffer layers can be formed on a Si substrate by molecular-beam epitaxy, with the "migration-enhanced epitaxy" procedure applied in the stage in which the nucleating layer is formed. When a GaP layer is produced on a p-type silicon substrate, a p-n junction is created in a natural way between the p-Si substrate and the surface n-Si layer produced by the diffusion of phosphorus into the substrate during the course of the epitaxial growth of GaP. This p-n junction can be used as the first junction of a silicon-based multijunction photovoltaic converter.