Surface and optical properties of AlGaInP films grown on GaAs by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Two sets of (AlxGa1−x)0.5In0.5P films were grown on lattice-matched GaAs by low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition under different conditions and studied by Nomarski microscopy (NM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering. NM and AFM images show cross-hatch patterns, related to dislocations and lattice mismatch, from one set of samples, but none from another set of films. Comparative PL and Raman measurements and analyses indicated the correlation between surface and optical properties. The degree of variations in compositions and film quality with the growth conditions was found from the spectral analyses. Raman spectral features are more sensitive to the sample growth parameter variations. The line shape analysis of line width, integrated intensity ratio and spatial correlation model fitting leads to information about the order of the sample crystalline quality. The optimum growth conditions have been obtained from our comprehensive analyses.