Experimental study of structural and optical properties of integrated MOCVD GaAs/Si(001) heterostructures

Highlights: • The structural and optical characteristics of GaAs/Si(100) depends on the use of preliminary etched misoriented Si (100). • The growth of the epitaxial GaAs layer on Si substrates without formation of the antiphase domains. • Formation of protoporous Si sublayer has a positive effect on the structural quality of the GaAs film. - Abstract: This is the first report of the control of the structural and optical functional characteristics of integrated GaAs/Si(001) heterostructures due to the use of misoriented Si(001) substrates with protoporous sublayer. The growth of the epitaxial GaAs layer on silicon substrates without formation of the antiphase domains can be performed on substrates deviating less than 4°–6° from the singular (001) plane or without the use of a transition layer of GaAs nano-columns. Preliminary etching of the silicon substrate with protoporous Si sublayer formation facilitated the acquisition of an epitaxial GaAs film in a single-crystalline state with a considerably less residual strain factor using MOCVD, which has a positive effect on the structural quality of the film. These data are in a good agreement with the results of IR reflection spectroscopy as well as PL and UV spectroscopy. The optical properties of the integrated GaAs/Si (001) heterostructures in the IR and UV spectral regions were also determined by the residual strain value.