Comparative analysis of strain fields in layers of step-graded metamorphic buffers of various designs

Spatial distribution of residual elastic strain in the layers of two step-graded metamophic buffers of various designs, grown by molecular beam epitaxy from ternary In$_{x}$Al$_{1-x}$As solutions on GaAs(001) substrates, is obtained using reciprocal space mapping by three-axis X-ray diffractometry and the linear theory of elasticity. The difference in the design of the buffers enabled the formation of a dislocation-free layer with different thickness in each of the heterostructures, which was the main basis of this study. It is shown that, in spite of the different design of graded metamorphic buffers, the nature of strain fields in them is the same, and the residual elastic strains in the final elements of both buffers adjusted for the effect of work hardening subject to the same phenomenological law, which describes the strain relief process in single-layer heterostructures.