Strain and compositional profile determination in ion bombarded heterostructures by the complementary use of RBS/channeling and high resolution X-ray diffraction

Damage creation in In0.517Ga0.483As/InP single layer heterostructures and superlattices during bombardment with 8 MeV As ions was investigated by RBS/channeling and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). Important defect migration during ion bombardment through the interface was observed, which leads to defect depletion in the InP region close to interface. Large defect accumulation was found in InGaAs on the other side of the interface leading to the substantial increase of strain in this layer. A similar effect was observed in a superlattice composed of the same materials. HRXRD analysis revealed that the strain build up is much lower in the InP layers than in the InGaAs ones