ANTIMONY ON METAL AND SEMICONDUCTOR SURFACES - INTERFACE FORMATION AND PASSIVATION

We investigate the formation of Sb/Al thin film, Sb/Al(111), and Sb/In P(100) surfaces and interfaces by core level and valence band photoemi ssion spectroscopies using synchrotron radiation. At room temperature, the Sb layer is reactive with both Al and InP surfaces. On the alumin um surface, Sb deposition results in AlSb formation while for InP(100) , it induces the growth of an InSb layer. Both metallic and semiconduc ting substrates are found to be chemically passivated by the Sb layer. Finally, the InSb formed on InP(100) thermally stabilizes the surface to temperatures above 500 degrees C while the AlSb alloy reduces dram atically the oxidation rate of aluminum.