Damaged Layers in Abraded {111} Surfaces of InSb

A metallographic investigation has been made of the nature and depth of the damaged layers in abraded {111} surfaces of InSb. It is shown that the damage consists of cracks which are associated with crack-like dislocation arrays of the type known to exist in abraded germanium and silicon surfaces. However, in InSb the damaged layer also contains glide dislocations and features which are thought to correspond to twins, both of which are absent in the elemental semiconductors. Contrary to previous reports by other workers, the depth of damage, taken as the depth of the deepest cracks, is found to be the same in surfaces terminating with In atoms and in those terminating in Sb atoms. In both cases, the glide dislocations and the twins extend to approximately half the depth of the deepest cracks.