High temperature surface degradation of III-V nitrides

The surface stoichiometry, surface morphology and electrical conductivity of AlN, GaN, InN, InGaN and InAlN was examined at rapid thermal annealing temperatures up to 1,150 C. The sheet resistance of the AlN dropped steadily with annealing, but the surface showed signs of roughening only above 1,000 C. Auger Electronic Spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed little change in the surface stoichiometry even at 1,150 C. GaN root mean square (RMS) surface roughness showed an overall improvement with annealing, but the surface became pitted at 1,000 C, at which point the sheet resistance also dropped by several orders of magnitude, and AES confirmed a loss of N from the surface. The InN surface had roughened considerably even at 650 C, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed significant degradation. In contrast to the binary nitrides the sheet resistance of InAlN was found to increase by {approximately} 10{sup 2} from the as grown value after annealing at 800 C and then remain constant up to 1,000 C, while that of InGaN increased rapidly above 700 C. The RMS roughness increased above 800 C and 700 C respectively for InAlN and InGaN samples. In droplets began to form on the surface at 900 C for InAlN and at 800 C for InGaN, and then evaporate at 1,000 C leaving pits. AES analysis showed a decrease in the N concentration in the top 500 {angstrom} of the sample for annealing {ge} 800 C in both materials