Structure and composition of chemically prepared and vacuum annealed InSb(0 0 1) surfaces

The InSb(0 0 1) surfaces chemically treated in HCl-isopropanol solution and annealed in vacuum were studied by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). The HCl-isopropanol treatment removes indium and antimony oxides and leaves on the surface about 3 ML of physisorbed overlayer, containing indium chlorides and small amounts of antimony, which can be thermally desorbed at 230 °C. The residual carbon contaminations were around 0.2-0.4 ML and consisted of the hydrocarbon molecules. These hydrocarbon contaminations were removed from the surface together with the indium chlorides and antimony overlayer. With increased annealing temperature, a sequence of reconstructions were identified by LEED: (1 × 1), (1 × 3), (4 × 3), and (4 × 1)/c(8 × 2), in the order of decreasing Sb/In ratio. The structural properties of chemically prepared InSb(0 0 1) surface were found to be similar to those obtained by decapping of Sb-capped epitaxial layers.