Kinetically controlled order/disorder structure in GaInP

A Ga0.52In0.58p order/disorder heterostructure having a band-gap energy difference exceeding 160 meV has been grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The two layers were grown on a nominally (OOl)-oriented GaAs substrate misoriented by 3° toward the [110] direction in the lattice. The disordered layer was grown first, at a temperature of 740 °C. The temperature was then reduced to 620 °C for the growth of the second, highly ordered, layer. X-ray diffraction shows that the two layers have the same composition and are both lattice matched to the GaAs substrate. Transmission electron diffraction patterns indicate that the first layer is completely disordered and that the second layer is highly ordered with only one variant. A low density of antiphase boundaries is observed in the dark field transmission electron microscope image of the top (ordered) layer. High resolution images demonstrate that the interface is abrupt with no dislocations or other defects. Photoluminescence measured at 10 K shows two sharp and distinct peaks at 1.998 and 1.835 eV for high excitation intensities. The peak separation is even larger at lower excitation intensities. The two peaks come from the disordered and ordered materials, respectively. The peak separation represents the largest energy difference between ordered and disordered material reported to date. This large energy difference, much larger than kT at room temperature, may make such heterostructures useful for photonic devices such as light emitting diodes and lasers.