Inhibited oxidation in low-temperature grown GaAs surface layers observed by photoelectron spectroscopy

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Abstract
The surface oxidation characteristics of a GaAs layer structure consisting of a thin (10 nm) layer of low-temperature-grown GaAs (LTG:GaAs) on a heavily n-doped GaAs layer, both grown by molecular beam epitaxy, have been studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Between the layer growth and XPS characterization, the unannealed LTG:GaAs sample and a control sample without the LTG:GaAs surface layer were exposed to the atmosphere. The rate of surface oxidation in the sample with a LTG:GaAs surface layer was significantly lower than the oxidation rate of the control sample. This direct observation of inhibited oxidation confirms the surface stability of comparable structures inferred from earlier electrical measurements. The inhibited surface oxidation rate is attributed to the bulk Fermi-level pinning and the low minority carrier lifetime in unannealed LTG:GaAs.