X-ray diffraction measurements were presented for as-grown and annealed (In,Ga)As/GaAs and (In,Ga)(As,N)/GaAs multiple-quantum wells grown onto GaAs (001) substrates. With regard to the (In,Ga)As system, a shift of the envelope in the X-ray diffraction curves of the annealed samples was observed. This shift could be explained by In–Ga interdiffusion across the (In,Ga)As/GaAs interfaces. A diffusion model was used to simulate the envelope shift; yielding an activation energy of 0.8eV. With regard to the X-ray diffraction curves of the (In,Ga)(As,N) samples, no annealing-induced shift of the envelope was observed. It was concluded that the incorporation of N suppressed In–Ga interdiffusion.

Nitrogen-Induced Suppression of an Indium-Gallium Interdiffusion in InxGa1–xAs1–yNy/GaAs Multiple-Quantum Wells. G.Mussler, L.Däweritz, K.H.Ploog: Applied Physics Letters, 2005, 87[8], 081903 (3pp)