TITLE:
Atomic Force Microscopy Studies on GaAs/In Bilayers Deposited on Si (100)
AUTHORS:
Miguel Ángel Venegas, Roberto Bernal- Correa, Máximo López- López, Álvaro Pulzara- Mora
KEYWORDS:
InGaAs, Magnetron Sputtering, AFM
JOURNAL NAME:
Microscopy Research,
Vol.3 No.1,
January
30,
2015
ABSTRACT: GaAs/In bilayers were prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering in an Ar atmosphere on Si (100) substrates using high purity (95.95%) GaAs (100) and In targets. The growth temperatures were 300oC and 580oC for the high purity targets of In and GaAs, respectively. Three samples were prepared: the deposition time (td) for the GaAs layers was fixed to 30 minutes, while varied for the In layers from td = 10, 15, and 20 minutes. The morphological and optical studies of the samples were made by means of Amplitude Modulation Atomic Force Microscopy (AM-AFM). In order to analyze and correlate surface morphology and alloy composition properties, the as-prepared samples were cleaved along the [001] direction and subsequently studied by AM-AFM-micrographs. From topographic images, a statistical study of the roughness and grain size was made. Additionally, cross sectional AM-AFM-micrographs were performed for each sample, where the phase channel, which is sensitive to the material properties of the specimen, was of particular interest.