Ar ion laser-assisted metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy of GaAs

Selective growth of GaAs using an Ar+ laser beam is reported. The laser irradiation during growth in the substrate temperature range 400–525 °C forms a GaAs spot of 400 μm in diameter. The spot growth rate increases up to 1.3 μm/h with laser power and does not depend on the type of substrate conductivity. Temperature rise due to the irradiation is revealed to be 7° at 120 °C for the laser power of 500 mW (laser beam diameter 400 μm). A concentric circle pattern can be formed by diffracting a laser beam. These results strongly suggest that the growth rate enhancement arises from the photodissociation of metalorganic molecules.