Abstract
Strain state of ultrathin InAs-on-insulator layers obtained from an epitaxial transfer process is studied. The as-grown InAs epilayer (10 -2 0 nm thick) on the GaSb/AlGaSb source wafer has the expected ∼0.62% tensile strain. The strain is found to fully release during the epitaxial transfer of the InAs layer onto a Si/ SiO 2 substrate. In order to engineer the strain of the transferred InAs layers, a ZrO x cap was used during the transfer process to effectively preserve the strain. The work presents an important advance toward the control of materials properties of III-V on insulator layers. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.