Synchrotron radiation photoemission study of the thermal annealing and atomic hydrogen cleaning of native oxide covered InAs(1Â 0Â 0) surfaces

Changes induced in the surface chemical composition of native oxide covered InAs(1 0 0) by both thermal annealing and atomic hydrogen cleaning have been investigated by soft X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Annealing up to 450 °C shows a reduction in the intensity of the In and As oxides, however this anneal is not sufficient to produce an oxide and carbon free surface. Exposure to a beam of atomic hydrogen at 360 °C results in the removal of both native oxides and surface carbon contamination resulting in a clean In rich surface. The chemical stability of the cleaned InAs surface to prolonged atomic hydrogen exposure times at temperatures up to 420 °C has also been investigated and shown to have no effect on the surface stoichiometry.