Citation
Beinik, I. and Galiana Blanco, Beatriz and Kratzer, M. and Teichert, C. and Rey-Stolle Prado, Ignacio and Algora del Valle, Carlos and Tejedor, P.
(2010).
Nanoscale electrical characterization of arrowhead defects in GalnP thin films grown on Ge.
"Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B", v. 28
(n. 4);
pp..
ISSN 1071-1023.
https://doi.org/10.1116/1.3454373.
Abstract
In this work the authors present an electrical characterization of the so called arrowhead defects (ADs) in GaInP thin films grown on Ge(100) substrates misoriented by 6° toward (111). The samples have been evaluated by means of conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). It is shown that the ADs have terminating planes which are composed from two alternating subplanes inclined 12° (close to {105} plane) and 6° (close to {109}) with respect to the (100) plane. The terminating planes of the arrowhead defects possess higher conductivity compared to their surrounding. The terminating planes differ also in their electrical behavior from each other, demonstrating different values of conductivity (C-AFM) and bucking voltages (KPFM). The difference in current densities between two terminating planes was found to be ∼ 170±35 μA/m2 at −3 V, and the difference in the bucking voltages was ∼ 70 mV at 5 V of the electrical excitation signal in the lift mode. It is suggested that the distinctive electrical behavior of the ADs is caused by an ordering effect which leads in this case to the degraded electrical properties of the ADs.
