Ion beam enhanced deposition of AINxOy alloys on InP

AIN_xO_y alloy films are deposited on InP by low energy (20 eV) ion beam enhanced reactive evaporation of aluminum in ultra-high vacuum. The resistivity of the films ranges between 10¹⁵ and 10¹⁶ Ω cm and the dielectric strength exceeds 10⁶ V/cm. The energy of the ions is kept below the threshold energy (found to be in the range 20–100 eV) beyond which ion bombardment of InP surface results in irreversibly degraded electronic properties. Despite this precaution, further improvement of interface properties (implying lowering of ion energy and appropriate post-annealing schemes of the structures) are required for a full development of this technique, which is compatible with the molecular beam epitaxy technology.