Structure of III-V oxides
The lack of high-quality native oxides on the III-V compounds has hindered the development of III-V integrated circuits and optoelectronic technology. Recently it was shown that stable oxides can be formed in the III-V compounds rich in Al, such as AlxGa1-x As similarly as it was done in Si technology by the reaction of AlxGa1-x As with H2O vapor (in N2 carrier gas) at elevated temperatures (∼400−450°C). The high quality of these oxides was attributed to the formation of stable AlO(OH) and Al2O3 compounds. However, this conclusion was not definitive, since several Al rich compounds were proposed as well. In addition, it was never clarified whether the excess As created in this process has any role in the stabilization of these oxides, in reducing leakage current or in impurity diffusion. Moreover there is concern as to the quality of the oxide/GaAs interfaces created by lateral oxidation of an intermediate AlGaAs layer.