Abstract
The effect of lattice misfit on photoluminescence properties and lattice parameters of ZnSe thin films grown by atomic layer epitaxy on (100)GaAs substrates has been investigated. It is observed that ZnSe layers thinner than 0.17 µn suffer complete tetragonal distortion, while films thickner than 0.17 µm show relief from the misfit strain. The residual stress in the epilayers amounts to 1.84×109 dyn/cm2 assuming complete tetragonal distortion. The thin films exhibit both free exciton emission and deep emission, while the thick films exhibit dominant bound exciton emission at donors and weakdeep emission.