Bond­length variation in InxGa1-xAs/InP strained layer epitaxial layers

Tensile and compressive InxGa1-xAs epilayers grown on [001] InP substrates have been analyzed by fluorescence-detected x-ray-absorption fine structure in order to investigate the length variation suffered by Ga-As and In-As atomic bonds under epitaxial strain. A morphological and structural analysis had previously been performed in order to select only pseudomorphic samples with high lattice quality. A clear variation of the nearest-neighbor distances proportional to the tetragonal distortion of the film has been detected. We discuss the relationship between the long- and short-range descriptions of strain accommodation in the framework of an analytical model.