The thermodynamics of oxygen incorporation into III–V semiconductor compounds and alloys in MBE

Abstract A thermodynamic model has been developed for the case of oxygen incorporation into III–V semiconductor layers grown by MBE. The oxygen incorporation occurs from oxygen containing species present in the MBE growth chamber. The model shows under which conditions of temperature and pressure an oxygen containing species is an important source of oxygen to the growing semiconductor, and how those conditions must be changed to make oxygen incorporation less likely. Results are presented for the interaction of the oxygen containing species CO, CO 2 , H 2 O, As 4 O 6 , P 4 O 6 , Ga 2 O and In 2 O with the semiconductors GaAs, GaAlAs, GaInAs and InP. It is shown that substantial oxygen incorporation is predicted in GaAlAs. In the other semiconductors, incorporation may be expected depending on the partial pressures of the reactants and the substrate temperature. It is shown that incorporation from CO is unlikely.