Surface morphology, electrical and optical properties of gallium antimonide layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy

Liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) growth of gallium antimonide has been carried out employing equilibrium cooling, step cooling, supercooling and two phase solution growth techniques. An optimum temperature range of 500-550°C was found to be suitable for the growth of high quality layers. The morphology of layers grown by the first three techniques improved with increase in layer thickness. In contrast, better morphology was obtained for thin layers when grown from the two phase solution technique. While the equilibrium cooling technique gave a diffuse substrate-epilayer interface, sharp interfaces were obtained by the step cooling, supercooling, and two phase solution growth techniques. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and current-voltage measurements carried out on the grown layers revealed that the layers grown from Ga-rich melts exhibit superior optical and electrical properties as compared to those grown from Sb-rich melts