The structural stability of InAs stacking-fault tetrahedra in InAs/GaAs (111) was theoretically investigated. Using an empirical interatomic potential, cohesive energies were calculated for the three types of InAs/GaAs(111) system where coherent InAs and relaxed InAs with the stacking-fault tetrahedra and misfit dislocations. The calculated results reveal that InAs with the stacking-fault tetrahedra was more favorable beyond the film thickness of 21 monolayers than coherent InAs. The critical film thickness of 21ML was comparable with that of 8ML for misfit dislocation generation. This suggested that the stacking-fault tetrahedra appeared in InAs thin film layers instead of misfit dislocations resulting from lowering the strain energy accumulated in InAs thin film layers.

An Empirical Potential Approach to the Structural Stability of InAs Stacking-Fault Tetrahedron in InAs/GaAs(111). H.Joe, T.Akiyama, K.Nakamura, K.Kanisawa, T.Ito: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2007, 301-302, 837-40