Scanning tunneling microscopy of III-V compound semiconductor (001) surfaces

While the (001) oriented substrate of compound semiconductors are most commonly used in fabrication of wireless and opto-electronic devices by molecular beam epitaxy, metallorganic chemical vapor deposition and related techniques, their surface structures have been puzzling from the beginning of the development of the techniques with which these materials are artificially prepared. This paper reviews the advances in comprehensive understanding of the geometric and electronic structures and chemical properties of the principal reconstructions found on the (001) surface of III-V compound semiconductors including arsenides, such as GaAs, InAs and AlAs, phosphides, such as GaP and InP, antimonides, such as GaSb, AlSb and InSb, and also nitrides (GaN), with the emphasis on the GaAs(001), during the first decade following the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy.