The effect of concurrent Si and Zn diffusion, upon interdiffusion between the cation and anion sub-lattices, was studied in Ga0.95In0.05As0.95P0.05/GaAs heterostructures which had been grown by using liquid-phase epitaxy techniques. The diffusion sources were equilibrium ternary tie-triangle compositions. The extent of interdiffusion of both group-III and group-V atoms was determined by depth profiling In and P, respectively, using secondary ion mass spectrometry. It was found that Si diffusion enhanced both cation and anion interdiffusion to the same extent. A mono-vacancy mechanism was used to explain the effect of Si. It was concluded that the impurity diffusion mechanism was a major factor which affected the degree of enhancement.

Impurity Diffusion Enhancement of Interdiffusion in an InGaPAs-GaAs Heterostructure. K.H.Lee, H.H.Park, D.A.Stevenson: Journal of Applied Physics, 1989, 65[3], 1048-52