Electronic properties of adsorbates on GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4)

A systematic experimental and theoretical study was performed to determine the causes of oxide-induced Fermi level pinning and unpinning on GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4). Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) and density functional theory (DFT) were used to study four different adsorbates' (O-2, In2O, Ga2O, and SiO) bonding to the GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4) surface. The STS results revealed that out of the four adsorbates studied, only one left the Fermi level unpinned, Ga2O. DFT calculations were used to elucidate the causes of the Fermi level pinning. Two distinct pinning mechanisms were identified: direct (adsorbate induced states in the band gap region) and indirect pinnings (generation of undimerized As atoms). For O-2 dissociative chemisorption onto GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4), the Fermi level pinning was only indirect, while direct Fermi level pinning was observed when In2O was deposited on GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4). In the case of SiO on GaAs(001)-c(2x8)/(2x4), the Fermi level pinning was a combination of the two mechanisms. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.