PHOTOASSISTED METALORGANIC MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY OF ZNSE

Photoassisted heteroepitaxy of ZnSe on GaAs by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy has been performed using sources of diethylselenium and diethylzinc. Illuminating the substrate during growth with an Ar ion laser has been observed to significantly enhance the growth rate. Growth rate enhancement was found to be a function of substrate temperature, VI/II gas flow ratio, and laser wavelength and intensity. Photons having energies sufficient to generate electron/hole pairs in the growing ZnSe film resulted in growth rate enhancement. The photoassisted growth has application for (i) increasing the anomalously low growth rate which is observed, (ii) assisting in tuning the surface stoichiometry, and (iii) providing for selective area epitaxy.