Abstract

Recent development in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)⁽¹⁾ is to broaden the scope of the technology to cover a wider range of materials from semiconductors to metals and insulators. For III-V compounds, gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GS MBE, MO MBE or CBE) is used to grow compounds containing phosphorous^(2-6). Precisely controlled electron-gun evaporation is used for Si-MBE⁽⁷⁾ and metal-MBE⁽⁸⁾. Fast loading of Hg source is used for II-VI compounds⁽⁹⁾. The impact of MBE does not only contribute to new discoveries in quantum physics^(10,11) but also to technology for generating a whole new generation of microwave⁽¹²⁾ and optical⁽¹³⁾ devices. The capability of MBE to engineer the band structure by superlattices and spatially varying the composition of semiconductors to create a specific gradient at the conduction and valence band edge or to accurately and abruptly control the layer growth to atomic dimensions pushes the frontier of devices to the ultimate imagination of device physicists and engineers.

© 1987 Optical Society of America