Mechanism of Thermal Interaction of In with GaAs

General behavior of In/GaAs couple heat-treated at 570°C for 2 hours was studied with secondary-ion-mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and Nomarski microscopy. It is shown that, besides the well-known InGaAs crystallites which epitaxially grow upon dissolution of the substrate, In interacts with the substrate dislocations to form In(Ga)As dendrites. The driving force for this process is presumably excess arsenic reported to be present in the vicinity of the individual dislocations.