Thermally-induced strain was used to produce plastic relaxation in a 280nm-thick ZnSe layer which was grown onto a GaAs substrate. Reciprocal space maps and triple-axis rocking curves were used to measure the diffuse scattered intensity around the ZnSe Bragg peak. A marked change in the diffuse scattering was observed upon heating the sample above the growth temperature. From the diffuse scattered intensity, the misfit dislocation density in as-grown and heat-treated layers was estimated to be 2 x 103 and between 104 and 2 x 104/cm, respectively. These magnitudes were in agreement with the dislocation densities which were estimated from the lateral lattice mismatch.

Generation of Misfit Dislocations due to Thermally Induced Strain - a Study by Temperature-Dependent HRXRD. V.Grossmann, H.Heinke, K.Leonardi, D.Hommel: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2000, 214-215, 447-51