Identifying threading dislocations in CdTe films by reciprocal space mapping and defect decoration etching

Abstract

We study threading dislocation (TD) density of high-quality cadmium telluride (CdTe) layers grown on a (211) oriented GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. High-resolution X-ray diffraction was performed to calculate the density of screw-type TDs by measuring the broadening of the asymmetrical (511) Bragg reflections of CdTe epilayers. In addition, total TD densities were determined by the Everson-etching method and were compared with screw TDs. Our results show that the total TD densities in CdTe films were dominated by those with screw character. The screw component TDs are estimated to account for more than 90% of the total TD density. CdTe layers grown at a thickness of less than 3.0 μm typically exhibit the screw TD densities in the 106 cm-2 and 107 cm-2 range. It can be noted that as the nucleation temperature increases, i.e., ≥222 °C, both the area density of TDs with the screw component of the CdTe films and the total TD density are roughly four times larger than those of the epilayer grown at the nucleation temperature of 215 °C. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of the II/VI flux ratio on the density of threading dislocations. The contribution of screw TDs to the total TD density showed a significant decrease in roughly 30% in the case of a high II/VI flux ratio. We further examine the reciprocal space maps in the vicinity of the (422) reflections.