A first report was presented of the disordering of strained-layer superlattices by Ge diffusion. The as-grown samples exhibited first-order well-resolved double-crystal X-ray satellite peaks which were due to the periodic structure of the superlattice. However, the satellite peaks completely disappeared from Ge-diffused samples, thus indicating that the superlattice structure was disordered by Ge diffusion. Photoluminescence measurements (1.4K) of both as-grown and annealed samples without Ge diffusion revealed identical sharp excitonic emissions around 420nm. After Ge diffusion, the photoluminescence peaks shifted to higher energies; thus confirming layer disordering of the structures.

T.Yokogawa, P.D.Floyd, M.M.Hashemi, J.L.Merz: Journal of Electronic Materials, 1994, 23[2], 101-4