Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
The misfit dislocation structure of vicinal InP-on-GaAs heterostructures is studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). An island type growth is identified. The misfit stress is not fully relaxed at the interface. X-ray measurements on strain relaxation and epilayer misorientation are also reported, and the latter results are explained with the asymmetric introduction of 6ذ dislocations at island edges. Comparing the results, it is concluded that x-ray data supply additional, although indirect, information on initial growth which is hardly detectable by TEM.