The surface quality of GaAs is very important in the reproducible fabrication of devices. There are two rather distinct aspects of surface quality: cleanliness and electronic passivation. Both aspects are the topics of this chapter. We begin with a practical discussion of surface treatments aimed at the removal of organic contaminants and native oxides from the semiconductor surfaces. We will then proceed to a review of the electronic properties of the gallium arsenide surface, especially those of its native oxide, and discuss approaches to improve those properties, i.e. to passivate the surface to improve device performance.

Inspec keywords: gallium arsenide; surface cleaning; passivation; III-V semiconductors

Other keywords: GaAs; surface treatments; electronic properties; surface cleaning; native oxides; device fabrication; organic contaminantion removal; gallium arsenide surface; electronic passivation; semiconductor surfaces; surface quality

Subjects: Surface treatment and degradation in semiconductor technology