Ion beam oxidation of GaAs: The role of ion energy

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Abstract
In this work, room temperature oxidation of GaAs was investigated using ion beam oxidation (IBO). In IBO, an ion beam is used to introduce oxygen athermally into the substrate, in this case GaAs. GaAs bonds are broken upon collision with the ions, making gallium and arsenic atoms readily available to react with the oxygen species. Ion beam oxidation of GaAs at room temperature was studied as a function of oxygen ion energy between 500 and 8 keV. The ion beam oxidized GaAs was characterized in situ by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and ex situ with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for accurate determination of the film chemical composition. Below 1 keV, a thin oxide film is formed: it is composed of Ga2O3 and As2O3 with almost no metallic arsenic, and presents insulating properties. As the ion energy increases, preferential sputtering of As and decomposition of As2O3 increase and prevent formation of an insulating film. No damage was detected by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) combined with ion channeling, in the substrate subjected to IBO below 1 keV.

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