Sulfide Passivation of InP(100) Surface.

Passivation of the n-InP(100) surface with sodium sulfide (Na2S) aqueous solution is analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The room-temperature PL intensity increases essentially even after short treatment with sulfide solution for 1 min. The enhancement in the room-temperature PL intensity after passivation decreases with the increase in the bulk doping level of the semiconductor. Time-resolved PL studies performed at liquid-nitrogen temperature indicate reduction in the surface recombination velocity. This improvement of the PL intensity occurs just after transformation of the native oxide layer consisting mainly of indium phosphates to the passivating layer consisting of indium sulfides and oxides. The surface bands in n-InP(100) remained nearly flat both before and after sulfide passivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]