MOVPE growth and study of InP-based materials: opportunities and challenges

In this review paper, we present the state of the art of the MOVPE technology for the deposition of InP-based materials. We describe the recent results obtained in the realisation of optoelectronic and microelectronic devices. We then focus on the MOVPE technology development, especially in the direction of group V alternative precursors and in situ monitoring techniques like reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS). Al-free materials, showing superior properties with respect to AlGaAs alloys in terms of oxidation and defects propagation, are described along with their device applications (lasers and solar cells). Finally, we discuss the challenges envisaged by the MOVPE community that will likely be related to superlattice structures like vertical cavity surface emitter lasers (VCSELs) and quantum cascade lasers.