The kinetics of dislocation-mediated strain relaxation were investigated during InxGa1–xAs/GaAs molecular beam epitaxy growth. In situ curvature measurements were used to determine the film stress as a function of time during deposition. The relaxation behavior includes a temperature dependent initial relaxation stage which partially relieves the misfit strain, followed by a rapid strain relaxation which commences at a temperature independent thickness and proceeds at a comparable rate at all temperatures studied. These observations were explained in terms of the mobile dislocation density evolution and the dependence of the strain relaxation rate upon the driving force and temperature.

Mobile Dislocation Density and Strain Relaxation Rate Evolution during InxGa1–xAs/GaAs Heteroepitaxy. C.Lynch, E.Chason, R.Beresford: Journal of Applied Physics, 2006, 100[1], 013525 (7pp)