GaInNAs was proposed and created in 1995. It can be grown pseudomorphically on a GaAs substrate and is a light-emitting material with a bandgap energy that corresponds to near infrared. By combining GaInNAs with GaAs, an ideal band lineup for laser-diode application is achieved. This paper presents the reproducible growth of high-quality GaInNAs by molecular beam epitaxy. Examining the effect of nitrogen introduction and its correlation with impurity incorporation, we find that Al is unintentionally incorporated into the epitaxial layer even though the Al cell shutter is closed, followed by the concomitant incorporation of O and C. A gas-phase-scattering model can explain this phenomenon, suggesting that a large amount of N2 gas causes the scattering of residual Al atoms with occasional collisions resulting in the atoms being directed toward the substrate. Hence, the reduction of the sublimated Al beam during the growth period can suppress the incorporation of unintentional impurities, resulting in a highly pure epitaxial layer. 1. Introduction to GaInNAs for Application to Near-Infrared Laser Diodes GaInNAs was proposed and created in 1995 by Kondow et al. [1, 2]. It is is a member of the family of dilute nitrides and III-N-V alloys, such as GaNP and GaNAs, which are novel semiconductor materials developed in the 1990s. A couple of research groups reported on III-N-V alloy semiconductors before 1994 [3–6]. However, these reports have been limited to crystal growth and measurements of physical properties. Kondow et al. proposed application of dilute nitrides to optoelectronic devices [1, 2] because the exceptional physical properties of III-N-V alloy semiconductors, such as their huge degrees of bandgap bowing, facilitate devices with levels of performance greatly superior to those of current devices. The unusual physical properties are consequences of the exceptional chemical characteristics of N as compared to the other elements in groups III and V. However, these chemical characteristics lead to difficulties in the creation of alloys of N and III-V crystals, that is, in the growth of III-N-V alloys. A strongly nonequilibrium method of growth and highly reactive N precursor are essential to overcome the immiscibility of N in III-V alloys. For this reason, no one had succeeded in growing any such material before the early 1990s. Kondow et al. proposed and developed a growth method for III-N-V alloys in 1994 [7]. They adopted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with N supplied in the form of radicals. Their method has subsequently been widely used as a
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