Structural properties of GaAs surfaces nitrided in hydrazine-sulfide solutions

The surface structure of GaAs(1 0 0), (1 1 1)A, and (1 1 1)B substrates nitrided through the wet chemical treatment in hydrazine-sulfide solution have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) under annealing in UHV. Such treatment has earlier been shown to produce a monolayer of gallium nitride on the (1 0 0)GaAs surface. The as-nitrided substrates of all surface orientations were found to be covered by an overfilm, which contains thioarsenic compounds and has a smooth relief. Thermal desorption of the overlfilm at about 530 °C opens the own relief of the nitrided surfaces. For the (1 0 0) orientation such relief is not microscopically planar and consists of nano-scale vicinal hillocks. These hillocks occur due to surface microetching which proceeds simultaneously with the formation of the surface nitride layer. We have shown that the wet nitridation procedure forms a monolayer of surface nitride on the (1 1 1)B surface. During nitridation the (1 1 1)B surface, as well as the (1 0 0) one, is affected by the microetching in the hydrazine-sulfide solution. Therefore, it exhibits a characteristic relief formed by triangular vicinal pyramids. At the same time the nitride film is not formed on the (1 1 1)A surface, which is more chemically inert, and where the surface etching is almost absent.