Hillock formation in InP epitaxial layers: A mechanism based on dislocation/stacking fault interactions

Abstract

Transmission and scanning electron microscopy have been used to study mechanisms of hillock growth in InP homo-epitaxial layers grown by the hydride VPE technique. Stacking faults in conjunction with dislocations were found to be the main sources of hillock formation in such epilayers. The stacking fault/dislocation interaction has been considered theoretically to understand better the details of the involved mechanisms of dislocation aggregation and pinning. According to the Burton-Cabrera-Frank mechanism the local concentration of dislocations results in a higher growth speed in these areas via spiral growth.