Selective area oxide desorption by electron irradiation in a H-2 ambient on GaAs (100)

The selective area removal of oxides from the surface of exposed GaAs (100) has been achieved by irradiating the sample with a broad, low energy elect ron beam in a H-2 ambient. It is proposed that electrons dissociate the mol ecular hydrogen to create ionized species which react with the surface. The surfaces of samples decontaminated at 365 degrees C, up to electron energi es of 200 eV, were undamaged as revealed by atomic force microscopy. Moreov er, quantum well structures epitaxially grown on these surfaces exhibited l uminescence. A possible reaction mechanism responsible for the oxide remova l is described. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)0410 7-8].