Growth mode transitions induced by hydrogen-assisted MBE on vicinal GaAs(110)

The homoepitaxial growth of GaAs by hydrogen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (H-MBE) on (110) substrates vicinal to (111)A has been studied by reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for different kinetic regimes. When the GaAs growth rate is limited by the kinetics of adatom incorporation to steps, the presence of chemisorbed H on the surface after oxide removal promotes the incorporation of adatoms to steps from the lower terraces, leading to the formation of multiatomic step arrays or ridge patterns by a combination of step propagation and two-dimensional layer-by-layer growth. Supply of atomic H during epitaxy favours three-dimensional growth, leading to Ga-induced surface roughening or mound formation. At high temperatures, the Ga–As interactions at step edges are faster and stable growth of GaAs occurs by step propagation, leading to a faceted surface when H is used both during oxide removal and/or MBE growth.