Nanohole etching in AlGaSb with Ga droplets

Abstract

We demonstrate nanohole formation in AlGaSb by Ga droplet etching within a temperature range from 270°C to 500°C, allowing a wide range of tunability of the nanohole density. By leveraging the low vapor pressure of Sb, we can obtain high degree of control over droplet formation and nanohole etching steps and reveal the physics of adatom diffusion in these processes. Furthermore, by combining the experimental results and a geometric diffusion-based model, we can determine the temperature and Sb-flux-dependencies of the critical monolayer coverage of Sb atoms required for driving the droplet etching process to completion. These findings provide new insight into the droplet formation and etching process present in the droplet-mediated synthesis of semiconductor nanostructures and represent a significant step towards development of telecom-emitting quantum dots in the GaSb system.