Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
We investigate the formation of inAs-rich layers at the interface between InP and arsenicbased Ill-V alloys grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). In-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry, low temperature photoluminescence, secondary ion mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the formation of these layers. We present evidence for interfacial layer roughness that depends strongly on growth temperature and on the presence of surface steps, and show that modifications of the interface chemistry and of the gas-switching sequence can reduce interfacial layer thicknesses.