An investigation was made of intermixing effects, in In0.53Ga0.47As single quantum wells, which were caused by 30keV Ar+ ion beam implantation to doses which ranged from 1012 to 1014/cm2 and by subsequent rapid thermal annealing at temperatures of between 600 and 900C. After implantation and rapid thermal annealing at 600C, a significant increase was observed (in the photoluminescence emission energy of about 0.06eV) as compared with non-implanted heterostructures. This indicated that the intermixing was produced by implantation. However, in the case of rapid thermal annealing at temperatures above 850C, the energy shifts (of up to 0.2eV) which were observed in implanted samples were similar to the shifts that occurred in non-implanted samples. This indicated that a prominent contribution arose from thermal interdiffusion. A significant decrease in the Ga concentration after interdiffusion was confirmed by Raman data.

J.Oshinowo, J.Dreybrodt, A.Forchel, N.Mestres, J.M.Calleja, I.Gyuro, P.Speier, E.Zielinski: Journal of Applied Physics, 1993, 74[3], 1983-6