Surface deformation phenomena induced by electron-beam irradiation in InGaAs/AlGaAs strained layers on GaAs(100) and (311)B substrates

We have found that mass transport phenomena were induced by electron-beam irradiation in strained In_0.36Ga_0.64As-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As layers on GaAs (100) and (311)B substrates. The strained InGaAs/AlGaAs layer structures have been grown on GaAs (100)and (311)B substrates in a horizontal low-pressure metaloganic vapor phase epitaxy system at a temperature of 800°C and 830°C. In the surface observation using high-resolution scanning electron microscope, the surface morphology was changed into a deformed structure by electron beam with the accelerating voltage of 30 kV and the scanning time of 60~-120 sec. The surface deformation phenomena were observed in real time on the display of SEM, the deformation was nor amorphous-carbon contamination. The mass transport seems to be caused by the residual strain relaxation due to electron-beam irradiation