Aqueous Stability of Ga- and N‑Polar Gallium Nitride
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Abstract
The stability of III-nitride semiconductors in various
solutions
becomes important as researchers begin to integrate them into sensing
platforms. . This study quantitatively compares the stability of GaN
surfaces with different polarities. This type of quantification is
important because it represents the first step toward designing semiconductor
material interfaces compatible with solution conditions. A stability
study of Ga- and N-polar GaN was conducted by immersion of the surfaces
in deionized H<sub>2</sub>O, pH 5, pH 9, and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> solutions for 7 days. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
of the solutions was conducted to determine the amount of gallium
leached from the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic
force microscopy were used to compare the treated surfaces to untreated
surfaces. The results show that both gallium nitride surface types
exhibit the greatest stability in acidic and neutral solutions. Gallium
polar surfaces were found to exhibit superior stability to nitrogen
polar surfaces in the solutions studied. Our findings highlight the
need for further research on surface passivation and functionalization
techniques for polar III-nitride semiconductors