Transient surface photovoltage in n- and p-GaN as probed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Transient surface photovoltage (SPV) of n and p-GaN was measured using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with a time resolution of 0.1 s. The measured SPV transients for both n- and p-GaN are ⪡0.1 s, and for the n-GaN they are not affected by flood-gun electrons. However, for the p-GaN, the transient character of the SPV is dramatically changed in the presence of flood-gun electrons. The combination of time-resolved XPS, flood gun, and laser illumination give us a new way to study the surface electronic structure and other surface properties of semiconducting materials in a chemically specific fashion.