Growth and investigation of quaternary III-III-III-V InGaAlAs alloy layers on InP by molecular beam epitaxy

A variety of III-V quaternary ln/sub 1-x-y/Ga/sub x/Al/sub y/As films, for use of 0.8-1.6 /spl mu/m emission optoelectronic devices, have been grown on InP by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A comprehensive characterization was performed using double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD), Raman scattering, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), on these heterostructures with different compositions and growth conditions. The lattice matched and mismatched structures are studied. Our analyses show that the interface mismatch exerts an important influence on the optical properties of these heterostructures, and conversely that Raman, PL and FTIR which are powerful nondestructive tools, can be used to probe the interface mismatch.