Wet oxidation of AlGaAs: the role of hydrogen
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1421 (United States)
Wet oxidation of AlGaAs to form Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} by the reduction of H{sup +} from water to H produces intermediate As{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Reduction of As{sub 2}O{sub 3} by H to elemental As enables the escape of arsenic from the oxidized film. Further reduction of As to AsH{sub 3} can provide another volatile As species. Formation of intermediate As is problematic for the use of wet oxidation in metal-insulator-semiconductor applications. The kinetic balance between As{sub 2}O{sub 3} formation and As escape can explain the transition between the linear and parabolic time dependence of the wet oxidation of buried AlGaAs layers. The near-total suppression of wet oxidation by O{sub 2} is attributed to the suppression of volatile product formation through consumption of atomic hydrogen by reaction with O{sub 2} to form H{sub 2}O in preference to the hydrogen reduction of As{sub 2}O{sub 3}. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 542168
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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