Hydrogen adsorbed at N-polar InN: Significant changes in the surface electronic properties

Abstract

The interaction of atomic hydrogen and ammonia with as-grown N-polar InN surfaces is investigated using in situ photoelectron spectroscopy. Changes in the surface electronic properties, including the band alignment and work function, as well as the chemical bonding states of the substrate and adsorbates are characterized. Ammonia molecules are dissociating at the InN surface, resulting in adsorption of hydrogen species. Consequently, the considerable changes of the chemical and electronic properties of the InN surface during ammonia interaction are almost identical to those found for adsorption of atomic hydrogen. In both cases, hydrogen atoms preferentially bond to surface nitrogen atoms, resulting in the disappearance of the nitrogen dangling-bond-related occupied surface state close to the valence band edge at $\ensuremath{\sim}1.6$ eV binding energy and the formation of new occupied electron states at the conduction band edge. Furthermore, a decrease in work function during adsorption from 4.7 to 3.7--3.8 eV, as well as an increase in the surface downward band bending by 0.3 eV, confirm that hydrogen is acting as electron donor at InN surfaces and therefore has to be considered as one main reason for the surface electron accumulation observed at N-polar InN samples exposed to ambient conditions, for example as the dissociation product of molecules. The measured formation and occupation of electronic states above the conduction band minimum occur in conjunction with the observed increase in surface electron concentration and underline the relationship between the energy position of occupied electron states and surface band alignment for InN as a small-band-gap semiconductor.