Monte Carlo simulation of sinusoidally modulated superlattice growth

Abstract

The fabrication of ZnSe/ZnTe superlattices grown by the process of rotating the substrate in the presence of an inhomogeneous flux distribution instead of the successively closing and opening of source shutters is studied via Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the concentration of each compound is sinusoidally modulated along the growth direction, caused by the uneven arrival of Se and Te atoms at a given point of the sample, and by the variation of the Te/Se ratio at that point due to the rotation of the substrate. In this way we obtain a ZnSe(1-x)Te(x) alloy in which the composition x varies sinusoidally along the growth direction. The period of the modulation is directly controlled by the rate of the substrate rotation. The amplitude of the compositional modulation is monotonic for small angular velocities of the substrate rotation, but is itself modulated for large angular velocities. The average amplitude of the modulation pattern decreases as the angular velocity of substrate rotation increases and the measurement position approaches the center of rotation. The simulation results are in good agreement with previously published experimental measurements on superlattices fabricated in this manner.