Manganese phosphide nanoclusters embedded in epitaxial gallium phosphide grown from the vapor phase: Non-negligible role of Mn diffusion in growth kinetics

Orthorhombic MnP nanoclusters are formed in GaP epitaxial films grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy on GaP(001) substrates, which are labeled as GaP:MnP/GaP(001). Polycrystalline MnP films have also been grown from the vapor phase on GaP substrates and are labeled as (p-c)MnP/GaP(001). Both GaP:MnP/GaP(001) epilayers and (p-c)MnP/GaP (001) films show a very rich texture, which has been previously characterized by three dimensional x-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps combined with transmission electron microscopy measurements. Heterostructures (HSs) containing multiple layers of (p-c)MnP/GaP and of GaP:MnP/GaP have been designed and grown with the same process. These HSs add new elements to our understanding of the growth mechanisms involved in these complex systems. In particular, it is shown that Mn diffusion during growth is strongly enhanced leading to a picture of MnP cluster coalescence, which explains some of their properties, such as the variation of their spatial distribution within the GaP matrix with the epilayer thickness. We report an Mn atomic diffusion coefficient of (1.5 ± 0.2) × 10−15 cm2/s in these films at 650 °C. The data are compatible with the superdiffusion of Mn, where the square of the diffusion length as a function of time (t) obeys λD2∝t1+α with an estimated value of α≈0.52.