Platinum, gold, and silver formed abrupt, unreacted, smooth, and epitaxial metal–semiconductor interfaces when deposited from the vapor onto clean, n-type GaN(0001) films. The Schottky barrier heights, determined from data acquired using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, capacitance–voltage, and current–voltage measurements agreed to within the experimental error for each contact metal and had the values of 1.2±0.1, 0.9±0.1, and 0.6±0.1 eV for Pt, Au, and Ag, respectively. The band bending and the electron affinity at the clean n-GaN surface were 0.3±0.1 and 3.1±0.1 eV, respectively. The barrier height is proportional to the metal work function, indicating that the Fermi level is not pinned at the GaN surface. However, discrepancies to the Schottky–Mott model were found as evidenced by a proportionality factor of 0.44 between the work function of the metal and the resulting Schottky barrier height. The sum of these discrepancies constitute the interface dipole contributions to the Schottky barrier height which were measured to be ∼1.4, 1.3, and 0.7 eV for Pt, Au, and Ag, respectively.

A layer containing an average of 1.0 monolayer ͑ML͒ of adventitious carbon and averages of 1.5 ML and 1.9 ML of hydroxide was determined to be present on the respective O-terminated (0001 ) and Zn-terminated ͑0001͒ surfaces of ZnO. A diffuse low-energy electron diffraction pattern was obtained from both surfaces. In situ cleaning procedures were developed and their efficacy evaluated in terms of the concentrations of residual hydrocarbons and hydroxide and the crystallography, microstructure, and electronic structure of these surfaces. Annealing ZnO(0001 ) in pure oxygen at 600-650°CϮ20°C reduced but did not eliminate all of the detectable hydrocarbon contamination. Annealing for 15 min in pure O 2 at 700°C and 0.100Ϯ0.001 Torr caused desorption of both the hydrocarbons and the hydroxide constituents to concentrations below the detection limits (ϳ0.03 MLϭϳ0.3 at. %) of our x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy instrument. However, thermal decomposition degraded the surface microstructure. Exposure of the ZnO(0001 ) surface to a remote plasma having an optimized 20% O 2 /80% He mixture for the optimized time, temperature, and pressure of 30 min, 525°C, and 0.050 Torr, respectively, resulted in the desorption of all detectable hydrocarbon species. Approximately 0.4 ML of hydroxide remained. The plasma-cleaned surface possessed an ordered crystallography and a step-and-terrace microstructure and was stoichiometric with nearly flat electronic bands. A 0.5 eV change in band bending was attributed to the significant reduction in the thickness of an accumulation layer associated with the hydroxide. The hydroxide was more tightly bound to the ZnO͑0001͒ surface; this effect increased the optimal temperature and time of the plasma cleaning process for this surface to 550°C and 60 min, respectively, at 0.050 Torr. Similar changes were achieved in the structural, chemical, and electronic properties of this surface; however, the microstructure only increased slightly in roughness and was without distinctive features.

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Chemical vapor cleaned, Mg-doped, p-type GaN(0001) surfaces and Ni/Au contacts deposited on these surfaces have been studied using several characterization techniques. Stoichiometric surfaces without detectable carbon and an 87% reduction in the surface oxygen to 2±1 at. % were achieved. The binding energies of the Ga 3d and N 1s core level photoelectron peaks were reduced by 0.5±0.1 eV following the chemical vapor clean. The band bending at the clean surface was measured to be 0.8±0.1 eV. As-deposited Ni/Au contacts on chemical vapor cleaned surfaces exhibited significantly less rectification in the low voltage region (<2 V) compared to identical contact structures on conventional HCl treated surfaces. The specific contact resistance of these contacts deposited on chemical vapor cleaned surfaces and subsequently annealed at 450 °C for 30 seconds was 3±2 Ω cm2. Improved ohmic behavior and a specific contact resistance of 4±2 Ω cm2 was obtained for contacts deposited on HCl treated surfaces and annealed using the same schedule. The formation of Au:Ga and Au:Ni solid solutions was observed for contacts on HCl treated surfaces following the 450 °C anneal. There were significantly less interfacial reactions for annealed contacts on chemical vapor cleaned surfaces. The values of specific contact resistance, sheet resistance, and transfer length of the annealed contacts deposited on both chemical vapor cleaned and HCl treated surfaces and measured from room temperature to 140 °C did not change during three successive thermal cycles within this range.