PbTe/CdTe single quantum wells grown on GaAs[100] substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

Describes molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth of the PbTe/CdTe single quantum well (SQW) structures on GaAs[100] substrates. Narrowgap semiconductor PbTe is of interest from the viewpoint of applications to mid-infrared detectors and laser diodes, and much work has been devoted to the growth on KCI and BaF/sub 2/. Only a little, however, was to the growth on other materials due to much larger differences in crystal structures and lattice constants between the epilayer and substrates. Recently, we have succeeded in obtaining high-quality CdTe[100] films on GaAs[100] substrates by MBE. Although crystal structure is different between PbTe and CdTe, we have noticed PbTe/CdTe as a promising heterosystem for optoelectronic devices since widegap semiconductor CdTe has a matched lattice constant to PbTe.