The effect of strain upon cation interdiffusion in quantum wells was described. It was found that Fick’s diffusion equation did not correctly describe interdiffusion in a heterostructure with strained layers. It was suggested that the strain altered the crystal defect concentration, and that the diffusivity was therefore affected by the strain. A diffusion equation which included the effects of strain was derived and solved numerically. Experimental photoluminescence peak shifts, as a function of annealing time, were closely fitted by this analysis and useful parameters such as a coefficient which described InGaAs/GaAs quantum well interdiffusion were deduced.

S.W.Ryu, I.Kim, B.D.Choe, W.G.Jeong: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 67[10], 1417-9