Liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Ga/sub 1-x/InAs/sub y/Sb/sub 1-y/ solid solution using Pb neutral solvent

Abstract

Ga/sub 1-x/InAs/sub y/Sb/sub 1-y/ solid solutions make it possible to produce optoelectronic devices for a mid-infrared (IR) spectral range, which is extremely important now for optical fiber communications, ecological monitoring, laser ranging systems and molecular spectroscopy. We propose a method of using lead (Pb) neutral solvent in GaInAsSb LPE-growth process in order to vary the Sb/Ga ratio in the liquid phase beyond the limits of the traditional investigations of melt-solid phase diagrams for the Ga-In-As-Sb-Pb system. As a result of our studies, we have successfully grown for the first time high quality Ga/sub 1-x/In/sub x/As/sub y/Sb/sub 1-x/ layers from the five-component Ga-In-As-Sb-Pb melt with x=0.14-0.17 at T=600/spl deg/C and x=0.18, 0.19 at T=560/spl deg/C.