Study into the shape of oxide lines formed by LAO – Influence of an oxidized material

Linear oxide patterns were formed by local anodic oxidation (LAO) using an atomic force microscope (AFM) on an n-doped GaAs substrate, a 10-nm-thick titanium layer, and on shallow GaAs/AlGaAs-based heterostructures capped either with a 5-nm-thick undoped GaAs layer or a 2-nm-thick undoped InGaP layer. Each heterostructures had a 2DEG buried at a specific depth between 22 and 45 nm. LAO was performed in contact and non-contact AFM modes with the aim to explain the phenomenon of single and double line formation depending on material oxidized. The occurrence of the phenomenon was also simulated. The results showed that the occurrence of the double lines is linked with the thickness of native oxides.