Fabrication of a P-stabilized InP(0 0 1) surface at low pressure and temperature using t-butylphosphine (TBP)

Fabrication of a P-stabilized InP(0 0 1)-(2 × 1) surface at low pressure and temperature using t-butylphosphine (TBP) has been studied. The (2 × 1) surface was fabricated at 260 °C using TBP (5 × 10−6 Torr) cracked with a hot W-filament although the (2 × 4) structure was not changed by exposing to TBP (5 × 10−6–1 × 10−5 Torr) at 260–280 °C without the filament. Mass spectra of the cracked TBP indicate that the relative spectral intensities of P and P2 are increased by 1.3–1.5 times higher than TBP without the filament, leading to the result that the surface can be fabricated at low pressure and temperature. The formation rate of the (2 × 1) surface by our method is higher by about one order of magnitude even at lower pressure and temperature than the reported ALE method. The (2 × 1) surface is stable at 260–280 °C in an ultrahigh vacuum. This suggests that atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) of InP can be performed at low pressure and temperature using the hot W-filament. The Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) result indicates that carbon contamination does not occur on the surface by adsorption of TBP cracked by the filament.