Index of Refraction Anisotropy in InGaAs/InP Heterostructures Measured by Ellipsometry

Abstract

AbstractWe applied ellipsometry to characterize layers of InxGa1-xAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) InP. Samples with mismatched layers exhibit significant anisotropy in the index of refraction. We explain these observations by the presence of misfit dislocations which form in an asymmetric pattern. This results in asymmetric strain and, via piezo-optical effects, an anisotropy in the optical properties. This effect makes ellipsometry a more sensitive technique than double-crystal x-ray diffraction for detecting misfit dislocations in these heterostructures.