The surface morphology and dislocation structure of thin or thick strained InGaAs heterostructures, that had been grown onto (001)InP substrates, were investigated by using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Long linear ridges, that were related to underlying dislocations, were detected in partially relaxed thin In0.82Ga0.18As layers. The ridges (with an increased height along the [110] direction as compared to that along the [110] direction) were associated with strongly inhomogeneous local growth rates that were produced by elastic strain relief and were controlled by kinetic factors. A cross-hatched surface morphology in thick In0.65Ga0.35As layers was explained by using the same mechanism; with multiplication and interaction of dislocations and ridges during growth. On the other hand, the development of isolated V-shaped grooves which were parallel to [110] in lattice-matched capping layers on partially relaxed In0.82Ga0.18As quantum wells was explained by the generation of surface corrugations, in tensile-strained regions, which appeared just above the elongated relaxed region of In0.82Ga0.18As.

M.Gendry, L.Porte, G.Hollinger, J.L.Loubet, C.Miossi, M.Pitaval: Journal of Applied Physics, 1995, 78[5], 3138-43