Preparation and characterization of atomically clean, stoichiometric surfaces of n- and p-type GaN(0001)

It is demonstrated that in situ exposure of the (0001) surface of n- and p-type GaN thin films to flowing ammonia at 860 °C and 10−4 Torr removes hydrocarbon and oxygen/hydroxide species below the detectable limits of x-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies (UPS) and decreases the Ga/N ratio from 1.3 to 1.0. Additional indications of the efficacy of this ammonia-based chemical vapor cleaning (CVC) process were the shifts in the Ga 3d and the N 1s core level positions from the as-loaded to the CVC surfaces of the n-type samples from 21.0±0.1 to 20.6±0.1 eV and from 398.3±0.1 to 398.0±0.1 eV, respectively, and the change in the UPS measured low energy spectrum turn on from 3.9±0.1 (as-loaded samples) to 3.0±0.1 eV (cleaned samples) below the Fermi level. Analogous changes in the p-type samples were from 19.6±0.1 to 18.9±0.1 eV and from 397.1±0.1 to 396.3±0.1 eV for the Ga 3d and the N 1s core levels, and from 3.0±0.1 to 1.1±0.1 eV for the UPS valence band maximum (VBM). The VBM values of the CVC samples indicate band bending of ∼0.3 eV upward on n type and ∼0.8 eV downward on p type. Electron affinities of 2.8±0.1 and 2.6±0.1 eV were determined for the clean n-type and p-type surfaces, respectively. Irrespective of doping, the CVC process left unchanged the (1×1) low energy diffraction pattern, the terraced microstructure, and the root mean square roughness observed for the surfaces of the as-loaded samples, i.e., the surface microstructure was not damaged during the high temperature exposure to ammonia at low pressure.