Ribbed crystals could be grown in a single processing step because the ribs were defined by the two non-growing (111)B surfaces which developed at each edge of (011) mesas on a patterned GaAs substrate during the organometallic chemical vapor deposition of GaAs/AlGaAs structures. The study revealed the importance of surface diffusion-enhanced crystal growth when a growth surface was adjacent to a non-growing surface such as a (111)B facet. The magnitude of this effect suggested that the present deposition technique was well-suited to the growth of structures which were tapered in 3 dimensions.

E.Colas, A.Shahar, W.J.Tomlinson: Applied Physics Letters, 1990, 56[10], 955-7