Surface morphology evolution and underlying defects in homoepitaxial growth of GaAs (110)

Highlights: • Homoepitaxial GaAs (110) layers are prepared by a molecular beam epitaxy system. • Surface and underlying defects were investigated in the thick GaAs (110) layers. • 3D surface islands and microtwins are caused by the internal strain relaxation. • We propose the way to reduce the strain and meet the perfect stoichiometry. -- Abstract: The evolution of the surface morphology and underlying pyramidal defects in homoepitaxial GaAs (110) layers was investigated with respect to the layer thickness up to 1 µm. Ga and As atoms coexisting in a one-to-one atomic ratio on the (110)-oriented GaAs surface exhibit different incorporation rates and adatom migration rates, giving rise to local As atomic disordering in the epitaxial layer. Accordingly, this disordering triggers distinctive shapes of three-dimensional surface islands composed of specific facets and underlying microtwins. Single triangular-shaped islands initially appear at an early stage of epitaxial growth. With increasing layer thickness, all of the single triangular islands suddenly become paired triangular islands by forming secondary single triangular islands nearby, like decalcomania. A further increase of the layer thickness induces a complete transformation into four-legged starfish shapes containing directional side edges. At this stage, the underlying pyramidal defects of the surface islands are filled with {111} microtwins. Surprisingly, the evolutions of island shapes and underlying twin formation are closely associated with the strain relaxation in the thick GaAs (110) layers, which is unexpected in any homoepitaxial system. We found that a higher growth temperature retards the shape evolution of surface islands, leading to suppression of compressive strain.