Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown ZnSe/GaAs and ZnSe/Ge heterointerfaces have been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Defect characterization of cross-sectional and planar specimens showed that ZnSe epitaxial films contain numerous twins that predominantly arise at the interface. Planar specimens of ZnSe/Ge were in-situ TEM annealed, for 5.5 hours at 873K. The twins are thermally very stable which would indicate that they arise during the growth process. The occurrence of these twins in the ZnSe film is explained by nucleation and growth of normal and twinned nuclei. Some of the ZnSe films grown on (10O)Ge substrates have low-angle boundaries indicating that the initial growth of the film is by the formation of islands.