A Proposed Hydrogenation/Nitridization Passivation Mechanism for GaAs and Other III–V Semiconductor Devices, Including InGaAs Long Wavelength Photodetectors

A surface passivation method for , with possible extensions to and , is proposed. For , a correlation between recent device work (on solar cells, field effect transistors, MOS devices, and photodiodes) and the experimental Ga‐As‐O phase diagram provides strong evidence of the role of elemental surface or interface arsenic or arsenic oxide in device performance degradation. On this basis, a hydrogenation/nitridization passivation technique is proposed. The reactions to remove surface As and are