This article is cited in 23 papers

Manufacturing, processing, testing of materials and structures

Chemical passivation of InSb (100) substrates in aqueous solutions of sodium sulfide

T. V. L'vova^a, M. S. Dunaevskii^a, M. V. Lebedev^a, A. L. Shakhmin^b, I. V. Sedova^a, S. V. Ivanov<sup>a

a</sup> Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg
^b Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University

Abstract: The elemental composition and electronic structure of both native-oxide-covered InSb (100) substrates and substrates treated in aqueous solutions of sodium sulfide are analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that, as a result of treatment in a 1 M aqueous solution of Na$_2$S and subsequent annealing in vacuum at 150$^\circ$C, the surface layer consisting of complex antimony and indium oxides of nonstoichiometric composition is removed completely with the formation of a continuous layer of chemisorbed sulfur atoms coherently bound to indium atoms. According to atomic-force microscopy data, no etching of the host substrate material occurs during sulfide passivation. A shift (by 0.37 eV) of the In–Sb bulk photoemission towards higher binding energies is found, which indicates that the surface Fermi level shifts deeper into the conduction band.

Received: 03.10.2012
Accepted: 17.10.2012

 English version: Semiconductors, 2013, 47:5, 721–727

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