Chemical beam epitaxial growth of high optical quality AlGaAs — the influence of precursor purity on material properties

Abstract The influence of source precursor purity on the quality of resulting chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) grown AlGaAs epilayers has been investigated. A close correlation has been established between the presence of trace quantities of diethyl ether in a precursor and consequent oxygen contamination of AlGaAs. Careful selection and purification of the precursors to reduce ether contamination has generated significant improvements in both the optical and electrical properties of CBE-grown AlGaAs, such that it is now directly comparable with high quality molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) grown material.