Antimony passivation of molecular-beam epitaxially grown GaAs surfaces

The use of antimony molecular beams to grow passivating films on ‘‘as-grown’’ GaAs surfaces is described. The substrate need not be cooled below 350 °C for deposition as in the case of As4 and not heated above 500 °C for an extended period for removal as in the case of InAs passivation. Good electrical properties of antimony passivated, air exposed, and regrown interfaces were obtained. No degradation in macroscopic defect densities were found with this technique.