The effect of native oxide on ion-sputtering-induced nanostructure formation on GaSb surfaces
Date of this Version
12-17-2012Citation
Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 251606 (2012)
Abstract
We have investigated the influence of native oxides on ion-sputtering-induced nanostructure formation on GaSb using in situ low energy ion scattering spectroscopy (LEISS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Comparing an oxygen-free sample with a native oxide sample, LEISS and XPS reveal the effect of oxygen in generating higher surface Ga fractions during early stages (fluences of 1 x 10(15)-1 x 10(16) cm(-2)) of low energy (< 100 eV) Ar+ irradiation. Enhanced surface Ga and Ga2O3 fractions were also observed on "oxide free" samples exposed to air following irradiation. The results suggest preferential Ga oxidation and segregation on the top of the amorphous layer if oxygen is present on the surface. In addition, the native oxide also increases the fluence threshold for nanopatterning of GaSb surfaces by almost a factor of four during low energy irradiation. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4772980]
Discipline(s)
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
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Copyright (2012) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 251606 (2012) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4772980. The following article has been submitted to/accepted by Applied Physics Letters. Copyright (2012) Osman El-Atwani, J. P. Allain and Anastassiya Suslova. This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.