Chemical beam epitaxy

Abstract Chemical beam epitaxy (CBE), a new development in epitaxial technology, is being used more and more in research on compound semiconductors for device-oriented growth. CBE is a process in which metal alkyls (e.g., triethylgallium), as group 111 sources, and hydrides (e.g., mine). as group V sources, are used to form the corresponding intermetallic crystalline compound in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. This article reviews the development of CBE technique for the growth of compound semiconductors, including problems which were solved to reach the current state of the art. The fundamental aspects of CBE growth are discussed, emphasizing fundamental advantages and disadvantages of CBE relative to other growth techniques such as MBE and MOVPE. Other aspects of CBE relating to purity, uniformity, surface morphology, and flexibility are also discussed. The current status of CBE materials and devices are summarized. Finally, some problemsthat remain to be solved are discussed and a few comments are made with respect to anticipated future developments.