Growth and structural evaluation of GaAsN/GaAs superlattice films with different N distributions grown by atomic layer epitaxy

Abstract In this study, to control the N distribution in GaAsN films, GaAsN/GaAs superlattice (SL)-structure films were grown by repeating one cycle of the GaAsN atomic layer growth sequence and n (0–9) cycles of the GaAs growth sequence using atomic layer epitaxy. The effects of n on the incorporation of N atoms into the GaAsN layer and the detailed N distribution in the film were investigated by considering the lattice constants of the GaAsN/GaAs SL and SL periods, as evaluated by X-ray diffraction. The formation of the SL structures was confirmed, although the SL periods deviated slightly from the designed values. The SL periods were not singular for the films and the direction of the SL period was slightly tilted (∼0.2°) from the growth direction. This indicates the existence of at least two regions with different tilt directions and periods in the film.