Thermal oxidation of AIIIBV semiconductors with V2O5 nanolayers on the surface

Surface morphology, composition, and structure of nanofilms grown on InP in the presence of V2O5

“…The layers produced by magnetron sputtering (harsh method) have the intended composition (V 2 O 5 ) [4], so the cor responding heterostructures are denoted as V 2 O 5 /InP. duced by method 2a (Table 1) had a roughness height on the order of 10 nm.…”

“…In the latter case, a variety of methods can be used to apply the stimulator: meth ods that strongly modify the semiconductor surface before the beginning of the thermal oxidation process (harsh methods, such as magnetron sputtering, elec troexplosion of wire, and electron beam evaporation) and methods that produce negligible changes on the surface (mild methods, such as metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and sol-gel processing). According to results obtained using vanadium pentox ide as a chemical stimulator, the mechanism of the oxidation process and the properties of resulting het erostructures are determined by both the stimulator deposition method and its state on the surface: in the form of nanolayers or nanoislands [4,5].…”

The XPS investigations of the surface composition of nanoscale films formed by thermal oxidation of VxOy/InP heterostructures

“…At the same time, in the composition of films, it was mainly present in the form of phosphates. Thus, both methods do not fully contribute to the retention of the volatile component and its binding, in contrast, for example, to the hard magnetron method of depositing of vanadium pentoxide films [4].…”

“…The introduction of a chemostimulator in the oxidation system is possible in two ways: 1) through the gas phase in the thermal oxidation process; 2) directly on the semiconductor surface in the form of films or nanoscale islands before oxidation [4,5]. In the latter case, two groups of methods were used: hard (magnetron sputtering, electric explosion), acting on the surface prior to the thermal oxidation; soft (sol-gel processes, low-temperature metalo-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), etc.…”

“…The unique properties of the V 2 O 5 chemostimulator allow the use of both the approaches and the two groups of methods (in one approach) deposition on the surface of InP. A distinctive feature of the vanadium oxides, in particular its pentoxide, is transition mobility V +5 ↔V +4 , allowing both the catalytic and transit mechanisms of InP thermal oxidation [4]. In previous studies, the phase composition of the films was constantly monitored by X-ray diffraction, but a detailed examination of the surface layer requires establishing the peculiarities of the effect of the heterostructure synthesis method on the mechanism of their thermal oxidation.…”