We have grown Ga0.47In0.53As/InP and Ga0.51In0.49P/GaAs heterostructures by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) using a multi-barrel reactor and compared their interface abruptness with that using a conventional single-barrel reactor. The multi-barrel reactor had a vertical four-barrel structure with five gas inlets, i.e. one inlet at the center in addition to one inlet for each barrel of four. In the growth, TBAs and TBP were used as group-V sources and supplied separately to barrels opposite to each other, while TEGa and TMIn as group-III sources were supplied from a center inlet to all the barrels. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements on Ga0.47In0.53As/InP heterostructures reveled excellent abruptness of P distribution across the interface and negligible P contamination in the Ga0.47In0.53As layer. Such advantages have also been obtained in the Ga0.51In0.49P/GaAs system. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.