A comparative study on protection methods against InP substrate decomposition in liquid phase epitaxy

The use of a Sn-In-P melt and of InP cover wafers of different orientations to prevent thermal surface decomposition of InP substrates in liquid phase epitaxy has been compared. An almost equivalent protection efficiency was found for the Sn-In-P solution and a (111B) wafer. However, with the melt approach a remarkable increase of residual impurity density was observed particularly at the interface of epitaxial InGaAs layers.