Evaluation of Surface Cleaning of Si(211) for Molecular-Beam Epitaxy Deposition of Infrared Detectors

We report an assessment of the reproducibility of the HF cleaning process and As passivation prior to the nucleation of ZnTe on the Si(211) surface using temperature desorption spectroscopy, ion scattering spectroscopy, and electron spectroscopy. Observations suggest full H coverage of the Si(211) surface with mostly monohydride and small amounts of dihydride states, and that F is uniformly distributed across the top layer as a physisorbed species. Variations in major contaminants are observed across the Si surface and at the CdTe-ZnTe/Si interface. Defects act as getters for impurities present on the Si surface, and some are buried under the CdTe/ZnTe heterostructure. Overall, the data show evidence of localized concentration of major impurities around defects, supporting the hypothesis of a physical model explaining the electrical activation of defects in long-wave infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe/CdTe/Si devices.