Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy growth of InP using triethylphosphine with phosphine as phosphorous source

Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth of InP was investigated by using both triethylphosphine (TEP) and phosphine (PH₃) simultaneously as phosphorus sources. Excellent surface morphology was obtained at 630 and 660degC by using both TEP and phosphine simultaneously at an optimized balance even though the phosphine supply amount was drastically reduced. The regular monolayer-step array of the sample surface indicates the enhancement of step-flow growth attributed to the enhancement of phosphorus source supply. By using this method, we obtained the InP recess-etching stopper layers of InP-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with excellent etching selectivity. Low-temperature InP growth at 475degC and below was also examined for the growth of emitter in InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). It is confirmed that this growth method is quite effective for the improvement of InP crystal quality of InP-based epiwafers and the cost reduction for epiwafer production