MBE growth of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well on a patterned GaAs (0 0 1) substrate

A GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW) was grown on a stripe-patterned (0 0 1) GaAs substrate with conventional molecular beam epitaxy. A mesa structure was formed with (0 0 1) facet on the top and (1 1 1) facet on the sides. It was found that the thickness of the QW layer on the (0 0 1) facet is controlled by the inter-surface diffusion of Ga adatoms from the (1 1 1) side facets. The behavior was investigated as a function of V/III ratio and the growth temperature.