Surface Passivation of GaAs using Chemical and Plasma Methods

Passivation of the GaAs surface was attempted using aqueous P2S5-NH4OH,(NH4)2Sx and plasma nitrogenataion and hydrogenation. Results indicate that plasma nitrogenation with pretreatment of plasma hydrogenation produced consistent reduction in reverse leakage current at room-temperature for all p and n type schottky diodes. Some diodes showed an order of magnitude improvement in current density. Aqueous passivation showed similarly an improvement however, additional experimentation is required into long term stability and the arsenic-sulphur covalent bond strength.