He+ Plasma Cleaning of Epiready InSb(112)B Surfaces for Compound Semiconductor Heteroepitaxy

Cleaning of InSb(112)B substrate to prepare this semiconductor for heteroepitaxy by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is presented. The InSb(112)B surface has been prepared by 2-step process consisting of a wet etched step followed by a brief low energy exposure of He+ plasma with an Inductevely Couple Plasma (ICP) system. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) analysis show that this 2-step process lead to a uniformed "epi-ready" InSb(112) surface that is nearly stoichiometric, and free of oxides and residual contamination.