Passivation of InP(100) substrates: first stages of nitridation by thin InN surface overlayers studied by electron spectroscopies

Abstract

International audienceThis article investigates the nitridation effect of InP(100) semiconductor surfaces performed by a glow discharge cell (GDS). Electron spectroscopies (AES, ESCA) were used to understand the different steps of this process. An important point is the initial quantity of metallic indium on the InP(100) surfaces. Indeed the indium droplets, created in well known quantity, play the role of precursor. At a relatively low temperature T = 523 K, the system undergoes surface restructuration which includes removal of the In droplets and the elaboration of two InN monolayers. P-N bonds and InN bonds have been detected by the analysis of PLMM and InMNN Auger peaks and In4d ESCA peak. However, the presence or not of metallic indium inside this InN overlayer is crucial for the passivation of the substrate. Ex-situ photoluminescence measurements correlated to the electron spectroscopies results have put i

Interaction of hydrogen with InN thin films elaborated on InP(100)

“…2 shows the In 4d (valence band) photoelectron spectra for prolonged atomic hydrogen exposure ranging from 0 L (spectrum 1) to 2.83 · 10 9 L (spectrum 3). Details of the hydrogenation exposure and identification of different components [4,5] are presented in Table 1. With increasing hydrogen exposure, the In 4d surface component peak positions shifts towards larger binding energy maximally by about 0.8 eV.…”

“…The substrate cleaning treatments and their nitridation process have been already described elsewhere [3][4][5][6]. Briefly, substrate nitridation and InN growth were performed with a glow discharge cell (GDS).…”

“…Its stability at high temperature is strongly affected by the presence of H 2 in the ambient which, in turn, influences the quality of material grown on different semiconductor compound substrates. In particular the nitridation of InP(1 0 0) substrates has been recently studied in detail [3][4][5][6]. Through these studies, both the growth of InN thin films on the substrate and its mechanism have been evidenced.…”