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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
High-quality GaAs epitaxial layers have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on nominally (100) oriented silicon substrates annealed in a hydrogen-ambient at 1250 ? C. Growth procedure involves an in-situ thermal annealing step after the initial deposition of a thin GaAs buffer layer. Rutherford backscattering and channeling of 2.1 MeV He+ ions, interference optical and transmission electron microscopy have been used to characterize these layers. Comparative studies indicate that the epitaxial layers grown on hydrogen-ambient annealed substrates have a superior surface morphology and a lower interface disorder than those on chemically cleaned silicon (100) substrates. Microtwins, dislocations and antiphase domain boundaries are the predominant defects observed in these layers. A lower incidence of microtwins were observed in the hydrogen annealed substrates.