We demonstrate by using transmission electron microscopy that the insertion of small amounts of a well-chosen material lattice matched to the substrate at the interfaces between the highly strained layers of a strain-compensated multiquantum well (MQW) may prevent the catastrophic morphological degradation of the epitaxial structure as growth proceeds. For InAsP/InGaP and InAsP/InGaAsP MQWs grown on an InP substrate, we find that InP itself is an efficient interfacial material, whereas for the same InAsP/InGaAsP MQWs, an InGaAsP alloy is less effective. We show that the interfacial InP restores the planarity of the growth surface by filling the depressions of the underlying undulating strained layer.
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Patriarche et al. (1996) studied this question.