Effect of a magnetron-sputtered MnO2 layer on the thermal oxidation kinetics of InP and the composition and morphology of the resultant films

Abstract

It has been shown in the process of optimization of approaches to effective control over the formation of functional nanofilms on III–V semiconductors that the surface modification of InP with magnetronsputtered MnO₂ nanolayers (25 nm thick) results in an oxygen transfer mechanism of the thermal oxidation of the semiconductor. The advantages of this approach are a higher rate of the increase in film thickness in comparison with stimulator-free oxidation, rapid chemical binding of indium, blocking of indium diffusion into the film, and accelerated phosphate formation. Changes in the composition of the films in comparison with those produced by stimulator-free oxidation lead to a considerable improvement in their surface quality (the roughness height does not exceed 20 nm and the average grain size is 55 nm).