Structural study of (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe superlattices for λ=1.55 μm intersubband transition

A (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe superlattice (SL), based on wide band gap II-VI compounds, with a large band offset of 3.1 eV was grown on a GaAs (001) substrate using molecular-beam epitaxy and an intersubband transition (ISB-T) of 0.78 eV (λ=1.58 μm) with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 96 meV observed. We studied structural properties using high-resolution x-ray diffraction combined with dynamic simulation and found through the strain state in samples that a ZnSe/BeTe interface having a quaternary interface layer (ZnTe)0.45(BeSe)0.55 is preferentially formed despite the promotion of one molecular layer (ML) ZnTe interface formation. Be-Se bonds thus replace the Zn-Te bond in the transition region. For the CdS/ZnSe interface, an approximately 1 ML Zn0.75Cd0.25S ternary layer accompanied by ∼1 ML Zn0.85Cd0.15Se forms at the transition region due to Cd diffusion. X-ray (002) ω/2θ scan curves for (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe SLs show sharp, intense satellite peaks exceeding ten orders, indicating high structure quality. We obtained excellent agreement between experimental diffraction patterns and the calculated curve via dynamic simulation for (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe SLs. The good fits allows us to identify structure parameters in (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe SLs, which are consistent with results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy measurement. Based on dynamic simulated results, we obtained a structure of (CdS/ZnSe)/Be1-xMgxTe (x=1.2%) with an average lattice constant aSL matching the GaAs substrate. An ISB-T located at wavelength λ=1.55 μm with a narrow FWHM of 90 meV was thus realized at room temperature