Crystal growth and electrical properties of sputtered indium gallium antimonide thin films

The growth of single crystal InGaSb alloys and InSb/GaSb superlattice structures by separate-plasma multitarget sputtering was investigated. The composition, structure, and electrical properties of the alloys as well as the compositional modulation, interface abruptness, and structure of the superlattices were related to film growth variables in order to develop a better understanding of crystal growth by sputtering. Topics discussed include: (1) the effects of energetic ion and charge-exchanged neutral atom bombardment on preferential elemental sputtering and enhanced diffusion at the target as well as at the growing film; (2) the concentration and ionization energies of defect levels in sputtered GaSb and In sub x Ga sub 1-x Sb films; (3) ion bombardment enhanced diffusion; and (4) film crystallinity and defect structures in both the alloy and superlattice films grown on a variety of substrates including: (100) and (111) Ga GaAs, cleaved (111) BaF2 and (100) NaCl, and Corning 7059 glass slides.