Nitridation of GaAs surfaces stimulated by nitrogen glow discharge

Nitridation of a GaAs surface can be realized simply by exposing the substrate to a windowless-connected nitrogen glow discharge light source. The photoemission data measured in situ show that both GaN and AsN species have been formed during the exposure process. In addition, it is found that nitridation can result in a 0.3 eV reduction of surface band bending.