Microchannel epitaxy

Microchannel epitaxy (MCE) is an outstanding technique for dislocation reduction during heteroepitaxial growth when there is a large lattice mismatch. This paper describes the MCE mechanism in detail together with experimental results. Directional growth is a principal concern of MCE, and is enabled through the assessment and control of the elementary processes of crystal growth. Vertical microchannel epitaxy (V-MCE) involves perpendicular growth relative to a substrate, from microchannels established as openings in a mask, while horizontal microchannel epitaxy (H-MCE) is growth parallel to the substrate surface. Even if many dislocations are present in the microchannels, directional growth vastly reduces their number in the grown crystal. MCE is beneficial for the fabrication of devices, as well as the quantitative study of the fundamental processes involved in crystal growth. This paper quantitatively discusses the growth mechanism involved in H-MCE of GaAs in the thickness direction. Fitting the forms of spiral steps observed on flat surfaces at an atomic level enables the accurate derivation of surface supersaturation at the time of growth. Moreover, since a simple mechanism for controlling growth in the vertical direction can be established for H-MCE with a single step source, quantitative discussion of crystal-growth mechanisms is now possible.