Based on thermodynamic and other quantitative results, we show that the formation of growthhyphen;induced oval defects in GaAs molecular beam epitaxy originates from the decomposition of Ga2O3in the Ga melt and the subsequent evaporation of the resultant suboxide Ga2O molecules. After landing on the epilayer surface, these suboxide species most likely combine to form Ga2O3plus Ga atoms which then act as nucleation centers for the formation of oval defects.
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