Molecular beam epitaxy of IV-VI semiconductor hetero- and nano-structures

In this review, molecular beam epitaxy of IV-VI semiconductor hetero- and nanostructures is described. The properties of the IV-VI compounds differ in several respects from zinc-blende III-V or II-VI semiconductors. This has significant consequences on the growth processes of molecular beam epitaxy. The main application of IV-VI or lead salt compounds is in mid-infrared optoelectronic devices. As example, the growth of lead salt lasers is described with special emphasis on vertical cavity surface emitting lasers. Furthermore, it is shown that due to the large elastic anisotropy of IV-VI compounds, self-organized quantum dot superlattices show remarkable ordering and vertical correlations. As a result, 3D ordered quantum dot crystals can be obtained. Thus, these materials are ideal model systems for the investigation of lateral, vertical and staggered dot ordering in multilayer structures. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.