Self-organized growth of HgSe quantum wires

We report on the growth and structural properties of low-dimensional systems based on HgSe. Special attention is given to HgSe: Fe quantum wires produced by self-organized MBE growth on patterned substrates. Different substrate/buffer/layer systems such as GaSb/ZnTe0.977Se0.023/HgSe, GaAs/ZnTe/HgSe, and GaAs/ZnTexSe1-x/HgSe with x varying quasi-continuously from 0 --> 0.98 were grown and in situ controlled by RHEED and ex situ controlled by SEM and HRXRD. We had to compromise between optimal strain-free interfaces and substrate properties for the projected investigation methods. The self-organization takes advantage of the dependence of the growth rate on the different surface orientations resulting from the patterning process of A-type stripes on the {111} and {223} faces for GaAs and GaSb substrates, respectively. Competitional aspects of misfit at the interface and relaxation state have to be optimized to ensure the low-dimensional character of the HgSe overgrowth. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.