GaAs MBE on vicinal substrates Si(001): Impact of nucleation and growth conditions on surface morphology and crystallographic properties of the epitaxial layers

GaAs films were grown with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method on Si substrates defected from plane (001) at 6° towards [110]. GaAs films were grown both on the Si surface terminated by As atoms and thin GaP/Si layers. Orientation (001) or (00–1) was set by the way of this layers formation. The processes of epitaxial layers nucleation and growth were in situ controlled with the RHEED method. Investigations of the grown structures were carried out with the methods of X-ray diffractometry and atomic-force microscopy (AFM). It is shown that both the character of film relief and its crystallographic properties depend on the epitaxial film orientation.