Electronic properties of GaAs surfaces etched in an electron cyclotron resonance source and chemically passivated using P₂S₅

Photoreflectance has been used to study the electronic properties of (100) GaAs surfaces exposed to a Cl₂/Ar plasma generated by an electron cyclotron resonance source and subsequently passivated by P₂S₅. The plasma etch shifts the Fermi level of p-GaAs from near the valence band to midgap, but has no effect on n-GaAs. For ion energies below 250 eV, post-etch P₂S₅ chemical passivation removes the surface etch damage and restores the electronic properties to pre-etch conditions. Above 250 eV, the etch produces subsurface defects which cannot be chemically passivated. Auger electron spectroscopy shows that etching increases As at the GaAs/oxide interface, while passivation reduces it. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.