It was noted that Al, Ga and In arsenides and antimonides and Al phosphide exhibited differing reconstructions for group-V and group-III terminated surfaces, However, Ga and In III phosphides typically exhibited 1 dominant reconstruction. Congruent sublimation temperatures, Tcs, were determined for GaAs, InAs, AlInAs, GaInAs, AlSb and GaSb. The predominance of so-called phosphorus-stabilized (2 x 4) and c(2 x 8) reconstructions had previously inhibited the determination of Tcs for group-III phosphides from RED observations. For AlAs, no Tcs was found below 860C. Coverage of heat-cleaned substrates with a few monolayers of group-II atoms at high temperatures, prior to growth, improved the surface topography to that of grown films.

A Pragmatic Approach to Adatom-Induced Surface Reconstruction of III-V Compounds. C.E.C.Wood, K.Singer, T.Ohashi, L.R.Dawson, A.J.Noreika: Journal of Applied Physics, 1983, 54[5], 2732