An AES/XPS study of oxygen involved reactions on InSb

Abstract

AbstractThe oxidation of ion‐etched InSb(110)‐cleavage planes was investigated by means of AES and XPS, respectively. Whereas the sticking coefficient of oxygen at indium sites was found to reach a saturation value after slight ion bombardment, the oxygen uptake rate of antimony remains low (sticking probability in the 10−7 range) with raising ion dose to a point where a drastical change in oxidation behaviour occurs at ion doses in the 10−2 As · cm−2 range. Then indium and antimony are nearly simultaneously oxidized with sticking coefficients of roughly 10−3. Cluster formation is discussed as one possible mechanism to explain the experimental findings. Adsorption experiments on disordered surfaces can contribute to a better understanding of surface reactions during gas phase growth of single crystals, since the in‐growth situation of the top layer of the latter is far away from the ideal situation that is prepared by in situ cleaving only.