STABILITY OF GAAS OXIDE UNDER METALORGANIC MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY PROCESS

Well-defined oxide of GaAs can be used as a mask material for selectiv e-area metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) of GaAs. In this st udy, the reaction between triethylgallium (TEG) and the GaAs oxide lay er was studied using a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) and an atomi c force microscope (AM). Results of the QMS observation showed that TE G was reflected on the GaAs oxide surface until the Start of desorptio n of the GaAs oxide, and the GaAs oxide layer was desorbed from the wa fer after a large time delay from the start of TEG supply. AFM images showed that many holes appeared on the GaAs oxide surface during the d esorption of the GaAs oxide. The effect of incident TEG upon the stabi lity of the GaAs oxide mask is discussed.