InP and InGaAs electronic devices are subject to deterioration of their properties upon exposure to air, moisture, and irradiation due to the instability of their surfaces. Attempts to protect device surfaces by overcoating them with a plasma deposited protective coating are frustrated by a marked deterioration of their electrical properties after deposition. Using x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we have examined InP and InGaAs surfaces exposed to hydrogen, nitrous oxide, nitrogen, and ammonia plasmas. We observed that these surfaces change substantially upon plasma exposure to either oxygen or hydrogen containing plasmas. The observed changes qualitatively agree with the observed device electrical property changes.
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Thomas et al. (1988) studied this question.