Epitaxial regrowth of an InAs surface on InP: An example of artificial surfaces

A systematic study of the surface of InP annealed under an arsenic pressure is reported. Comparison with data obtained on clean InP and InAs reveal that the surface phosphorus is exchanged with the impinging arsenic down to the two top monolayers, where the reaction stops. Important changes in the surface electronic properties are concurrently observed, especially the shift of the surface states away from the band gap and the decrease of the surface recombination velocity. From both structural and electronic points of view, this object may be seen as bulk InP with an InAs surface fitted on it, and hence, as a first example of a new class of objects, bulk III-V materials with tailored III-V surfaces.