Selective epitaxial growth of GaAs tips for local spin injector applications

Selective area growth experiments were carried out by hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE) on (1 0 0) GaAs-patterned substrates for the making of GaAs tips to be used as spin injectors. The tips exhibited various morphological profiles bounded by low and high index faces. Sharp apices were formed by the intersection of four perfectly crystal-defined {1 1 0} facets. The tip height and the apex sharpness have been optimized through the control of the crystal intrinsic growth anisotropy as a function of the experimental growth parameters. A good agreement was obtained between the morphologies of the selectively grown tips and kinetic Wulff constructions based on knowledge of the growth rate anisotropy that was independently determined on low index substrates. This demonstrates that a strictly surface kinetics dependent growth regime was established. HVPE appears to be a rapid, reliable tool for the making of morphologically controlled microtips on large area wafers.