Atomic hydrogen cleaning of GaSb(001) surfaces

Abstract

We show that the ͑001͒ surface of GaSb can be cleaned efficiently by exposure to atomic hydrogen at substrate temperatures in the range 400-470°C. This treatment removes carbon and oxygen contamination, leaving a clean, ordered surface with a symmetric ͑1ϫ3͒ reconstruction after a total H 2 dose of approximately 150 kL. An ordered but partially oxidized surface is generated during cleaning, and the removal of this residual oxide is the most difficult part of the process. Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction were used to monitor the chemical cleanliness and the ordering of the surface during the cleaning process, whereas high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy was used to probe the electronic structure in the near-surface region. The results obtained indicates that this cleaning procedure leaves no residual electronic damage in the near-surface region of the Te-doped (nϳ5ϫ10 17 cm Ϫ3 ) samples of GaSb͑001͒ studied.

Facile synthesis of a superhydrophobic and colossal broadband antireflective nanoporous GaSb surface

“…The hydrophobic nature of a nanoporous GaSb surface can get further enhanced due to the presence of hydrocarbons on the surface, which is observed for other materials as well. 27,28 For instance, C adsorption is common for GaSb surface exposed to the ambient, 29 which can be more for a nanoporous GaSb surface formed due to ion implantation. These absorbed carbon atoms can get transformed into hydrocarbon compounds by reacting with water molecules adsorbed on the surface.…”

Epitaxial growth of ZnTe on GaSb(100) using in situ ZnCl2 surface clean

“…Successful growth of ZnTe directly on GaSb substrates without the requirement for antimony stabilizing flux and GaSb buffer would considerably reduce the complexity of the material synthesis. For example, molecular or atomic hydrogen [11][12][13][14] has been used to deoxidize the GaSb surface without using an antimony overpressure flux, where high-quality ZnTe growth has been demonstrated following surface cleaning of GaSb with atomic hydrogen. 12 An alternative surface preparation technique for growing high quality ZnTe directly on GaSb substrates without a group-V stabilizing flux or any gas sources for surface preparation is presented in this work.…”

Low temperature removal of surface oxides and hydrocarbons from Ge(100) using atomic hydrogen

“…Atomic hydrogen cleaning (AHC) has been shown to offer an effective route to the removal of surface hydrocarbons and oxides in a range of semiconductor materials, including GaP [27], GaMnAs [28], GaAs [29], GaSb [30], InAs [31,32], InN [33], and InP [34]. The AHC process removes surface oxides and hydrocarbons via chemical reaction on the surface, followed by desorption in to the vacuum, and ordered surfaces can typically be achieved at lower temperatures.…”