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Resonant inverse photoemission of Sb multilayers on GaAs(110) and InP(110) surfaces

Conference · · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Microelectronics Processing and Phenomena; (United States)
OSTI ID:5944972
; ;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis (United States)

The coverage- and structure-dependent empty electronic states of Sb multilayers on nearly unrelaxed GaAs(110) and relaxed InP(110) have been investigated using inverse photoemission (IPES) and low energy electron diffraction. Two significant Sb-derived empty states, termed features A and B, are used to characterize the evolution of ordered, metastable Sb multilayers and the ordered first monolayer. Feature A appears {approximately}0.30 and {approximately}0.35 eV above E{sub F} for ordered metastable Sb multilayers on p-GaAs(110) and p-InP(110), respectively, while feature B appears at 2.0 eV for 1 ML of ordered Sb. Feature A resonates for photon energies of IPES near h{omega}{sub p} = 15.9 eV because radiative decay of a plasmon within the Sb film provides a decay channel that competes with the inverse photoemission channel. This resonance occurs for thicknesses greater than {approximately}3.5 ML for GaAs(110) and {approximately}2 ML for InP(110) for overlayers annealed at 475 K following Sb growth at 300K. Structural studies reveal that the resonance features of IPES are correlated with metastable structures of Sb layers. Very gradual relief of strained-layer structures, coherent with (110) surfaces, may contribute to the existence of metastable phases for coverages below {approximately}10 ML. For Sb/GaAs(110), the metastable structures consist of long-range-ordered (110) domains with Sb crystallites between them. For Sb/InP (110), the metastable structures may be associated with a fairly continuous, periodic distribution of atomically corrugated (110) domains along (001), and the plane defined by the Sb zig-zag chains is not parallel to the unrelaxed (110) surface. These metastable structures may provide various coupling conditions for the momenta of the photon and the electron-excited Sb plasmons.

OSTI ID:
5944972
Report Number(s):
CONF-9009402--
Journal Information:
Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Microelectronics Processing and Phenomena; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Microelectronics Processing and Phenomena; (United States) Vol. 9:2; ISSN 0734-211X; ISSN JVTBD
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English