Single crystal diffraction studies of stacking faults in close-packed structures

Growth of Epitaxial ZnS Films by Pulsed-Laser Ablation

Pulsed KrF (248nm) laser ablation of a polycrystailine ZnS target has been used to grow high quality, carbon-free, epitaxial ZnS thin films on GaAs(OOl), GaAs(111), and GaP(OOl). The films were grown at temperatures of 150–450°C, using a rotating substrate heater and deposition geometry that produces films with highly uniform thickness. X-ray rocking curves are consistent with (111) stacking faults being the dominant defects in the ZnS films grown on GaAs. The estimated stacking fault density is ∼6 × 1010 cm-3, comparable to the best MOCVD ZnS films. RBS analysis shows that these defects are located predominantly near the GaAs-ZnS interface. The anisotropy of the ZnS growth rate, between the GaAs(001) and GaAs(111) surfaces, was found to be temperature-dependent.