Experiments were performed with the aim of assessing the effects of various stages of nucleation upon the formation of stacking faults at the interface. Differential interference contrast microscopy was used to image stacking faults and misfit dislocations in 100nm-thick ZnSe layers. It was demonstrated that an As-stabilized GaAs surface was required in order to obtain a low density of stacking faults. However, an excess of As favored the formation of stacking faults. The introduction of Zn drastically increased the stacking fault density.

E.D.Bourret-Courchesne: Applied Physics Letters, 1996, 68[12], 1675-7