In Situ Flux Transient Monitoring and Correction During MBE Growth of Quantum Well Structures

ABSTRACTShutter closure during MBE deposition causes source overheating and results in flux transients. These transients are particularly detrimental to the thickness and compositional accuracy of thin quantum well layers. In this paper, we document the effects of flux transients on growth of multiple quantum well (MQW) and resonant tunneling diode (RTD) structures, and demonstrate rudimentary transient correction by employing real-time flux detection.Reflection mass spectrometry (REMS) provides a convenient in situ method for MBE flux monitoring. The Group III partial pressures can be detected in the presence of Group V overpressure, and REMS is compatible with wafer rotation. We used REMS to characterize In, Al and Ga flux transients as a function of shutter closed time, cell flux and substrate temperature. Overshoot magnitudes up to 30% were observed. We verified the correspondence of REMS signal transients and effusion cell flux transients using GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAs/lnAlAs MQW and test structures. We also successfully demonstrated flux transient correction by cell temperature ramping during MQW and RTD growth.