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Oxidation of the GaAs semiconductor at the Al2O3/GaAs junction

Tuominen, Marjukka ; Yasir, Muhammad ; Lang, Jouko ; Dahl, Johnny ; Kuzmin, Mikhail ; Makela, Jaakko ; Punkkinen, Marko ; Laukkanen, Pekka ; Kokko, Kalevi and Schulte, Karina LU , et al. (2015) In Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 17(10). p.7060-7066
Abstract
Atomic-scale understanding and processing of the oxidation of III-V compound-semiconductor surfaces are essential for developing materials for various devices (e.g., transistors, solar cells, and light emitting diodes). The oxidation-induced defect-rich phases at the interfaces of oxide/III-V junctions significantly affect the electrical performance of devices. In this study, a method to control the GaAs oxidation and interfacial defect density at the prototypical Al2O3/GaAs junction grown via atomic layer deposition (ALD) is demonstrated. Namely, pre-oxidation of GaAs(100) with an In-induced c(8 x 2) surface reconstruction, leading to a crystalline c(4 x 2)-O interface oxide before ALD of Al2O3, decreases band-gap defect density at the... (More)
Atomic-scale understanding and processing of the oxidation of III-V compound-semiconductor surfaces are essential for developing materials for various devices (e.g., transistors, solar cells, and light emitting diodes). The oxidation-induced defect-rich phases at the interfaces of oxide/III-V junctions significantly affect the electrical performance of devices. In this study, a method to control the GaAs oxidation and interfacial defect density at the prototypical Al2O3/GaAs junction grown via atomic layer deposition (ALD) is demonstrated. Namely, pre-oxidation of GaAs(100) with an In-induced c(8 x 2) surface reconstruction, leading to a crystalline c(4 x 2)-O interface oxide before ALD of Al2O3, decreases band-gap defect density at the Al2O3/GaAs interface. Concomitantly, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) from these Al2O3/GaAs interfaces shows that the high oxidation state of Ga (Ga2O3 type) decreases, and the corresponding In2O3 type phase forms when employing the c(4 x 2)-O interface layer. Detailed synchrotron-radiation XPS of the counterpart c(4 x 2)-O oxide of InAs(100) has been utilized to elucidate the atomic structure of the useful c(4 x 2)-O interface layer and its oxidation process. The spectral analysis reveals that three different oxygen sites, five oxidation-induced group-III atomic sites with core-level shifts between -0.2 eV and +1.0 eV, and hardly any oxygen-induced changes at the As sites form during the oxidation. These results, discussed within the current atomic model of the c(4 x 2)-O interface, provide insight into the atomic structures of oxide/III-V interfaces and a way to control the semiconductor oxidation. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
volume
17
issue
10
pages
7060 - 7066
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • wos:000351419800046
  • scopus:84923878513
  • pmid:25686555
ISSN
1463-9084
DOI
10.1039/c4cp05972g
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7d3e83c4-796a-48ca-b3c3-2915b28d83cd (old id 5287838)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:45:06
date last changed
2022-01-27 20:53:52
@article{7d3e83c4-796a-48ca-b3c3-2915b28d83cd,
  abstract     = {{Atomic-scale understanding and processing of the oxidation of III-V compound-semiconductor surfaces are essential for developing materials for various devices (e.g., transistors, solar cells, and light emitting diodes). The oxidation-induced defect-rich phases at the interfaces of oxide/III-V junctions significantly affect the electrical performance of devices. In this study, a method to control the GaAs oxidation and interfacial defect density at the prototypical Al2O3/GaAs junction grown via atomic layer deposition (ALD) is demonstrated. Namely, pre-oxidation of GaAs(100) with an In-induced c(8 x 2) surface reconstruction, leading to a crystalline c(4 x 2)-O interface oxide before ALD of Al2O3, decreases band-gap defect density at the Al2O3/GaAs interface. Concomitantly, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) from these Al2O3/GaAs interfaces shows that the high oxidation state of Ga (Ga2O3 type) decreases, and the corresponding In2O3 type phase forms when employing the c(4 x 2)-O interface layer. Detailed synchrotron-radiation XPS of the counterpart c(4 x 2)-O oxide of InAs(100) has been utilized to elucidate the atomic structure of the useful c(4 x 2)-O interface layer and its oxidation process. The spectral analysis reveals that three different oxygen sites, five oxidation-induced group-III atomic sites with core-level shifts between -0.2 eV and +1.0 eV, and hardly any oxygen-induced changes at the As sites form during the oxidation. These results, discussed within the current atomic model of the c(4 x 2)-O interface, provide insight into the atomic structures of oxide/III-V interfaces and a way to control the semiconductor oxidation.}},
  author       = {{Tuominen, Marjukka and Yasir, Muhammad and Lang, Jouko and Dahl, Johnny and Kuzmin, Mikhail and Makela, Jaakko and Punkkinen, Marko and Laukkanen, Pekka and Kokko, Kalevi and Schulte, Karina and Punkkinen, Risto and Korpijarvi, Ville-Markus and Polojarvi, Ville and Guina, Mircea}},
  issn         = {{1463-9084}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{7060--7066}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics}},
  title        = {{Oxidation of the GaAs semiconductor at the Al2O3/GaAs junction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4cp05972g}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/c4cp05972g}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}