Advanced AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures grown by MOVPE

Abstract

AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures are the base of many semiconductor devices. The fabrication of new types of devices demands heterostructures with special features, such as large total thickness (~20 µm), ultrathin layers (~1 nm), high repeatability (up to 1000 periods) and uniformity, for which a conventional approach of growing such heterostructures is insufficient and the development of new growth procedures is needed. This article summarizes our work on the metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth of AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures for modern infrared devices. The growth approaches presented allow for the improved output characteristics of different emitting devices such as multi active region lasers, epitaxially integrated via highly doped tunnel junctions (emission wavelength λ ~ 1 µm), quantum cascade lasers (λ ~10 µm) and THz laser (λ ~100 µm), based on short-period superlattice with 500–2000 layers.