Preparation, morphology and physical properties of microrelief InP surfaces

Abstract

The morphology of microrelief InP surfaces, prepared by anisotropic chemical etching without masking and the kinetics of this etching were studied. A statistical analysis of surface profiles shows that the surface studied has a Gaussian roughness distribution and the ratio of root-mean-square surface roughness δ to autocorrelation length σ is small and amounts to (2–5) × 10 −2 . For such a surface a reduction in specular reflection and increase in photocurrent of barrier structures have been observed. Such microrelief structures may be used to increase the collection efficiency of solar cells and the sensitivity of photodetectors.