Passivation of GaAs by atomic hydrogen flow produced by the crossed beams method

A new method of hydrogen passivation is described in which a flow of molecular hydrogen is passed through dense microwave plasma across a magnetic field. This magnetic field serves to protect the sample surface from being bombarded by charged particles. Hence the crossed beam (CB) method makes it possible to avoid plasma etching and heavy ion bombardment that are so detrimental for many semiconductor devices. The positive effect of CB treatment on n-GaAs Schottky diodes is described. The effect consists of shallow donor passivation and improvement of I-V characteristics.