Lattice distortion in single crystal rare-earth arsenide/GaAs nanocomposites

Epitaxial single crystal nanocomposites comprised of rare-earth arsenide nanoparticles embedded in GaAs (001) layers produce a larger change in lattice parameter than expected from the lattice parameters of relaxed films. Despite similar cubic structures and lattice parameters, elongation of the interfacial bond length between the two materials induces additional strain causing an expansion in the nanocomposite lattice. The interface bond length is material dependent with an average atomic layer spacing at the ErAs:GaAs interface of 1.9 Å while the spacing at the ScAs:GaAs interface is only 1.4 Å. Implications for lattice matching various single crystal epitaxial nanostructures in semiconductors are discussed