Preservation of indium phosphide substrates in organometallic vapour phase epitaxy of indium gallium arsenide

Epitaxial growth on InP by organometallic vapour phase epitaxy (OMVPE) requires substrate preservation to prevent surface damage. The results of this study show that InP degradation is limited at temperatures below 550 degrees C; above this temperature preservation with phosphine is essential. At growth temperatures in the range 600-650 degrees C, 5 x 10-4 bar of phosphine is adequate to prevent degradation. No evidence for degradation due to a 'large excess' of phosphine, up to 8 x 10-2 bar, was observed as has been reported previously. 2 figs., 9 refs