Liquid phase epitaxial growth on {111}In planes of InP

Two step, liquid phase epitaxy is a high yield process without critical steps in the AlGaAs system when used to form buried devices such as buried heterostructure lasers, but similar procedures give a low yield in the InGaAsP system with many short circuited devices. The {111}In stop-etch plane enables one to etch narrow mesas (≊1.5-μm wide) to ensure single mode laser operation but regrowth of InP on this plane has a highly nonradiative interface, a characteristic that appears unique to this plane. Studies of the growth morphology correlate the nonradiative behavior with an inability of the initial islands of nucleation to spread laterally to form a continuous layer which gives rise to melt entrapment.