Cleaning chemistry of InSb(100) molecular beam epitaxy substrates
InSb has been used as a substrate for molecular beam epitaxy. For good epitaxial growth, a substrate surface which is smooth and clean on an atomic scale is required. Chemical cleaning procedures provide an oxide film to passivate the surface. This film is then desorbed by in situ heating. The material forming the film should, therefore, have a high vapor pressure at some temperature less than the substrate melting temperature. A chloride film appears to satisfy the latter requirement. The present investigation is, therefore, concerned with the formation of a chloride film rather than an oxide film. Carbon contamination has been found to cause problems in chemical cleaning procedures. The level of carbon contamination found in the case of chloride film formation, is therefore compared with the corresponding level observed in procedures using oxide films. It appears that a chloride film grown in connection with a short exposure time to a Cl2 plasma is preferable to other passivation films studied.