A study of anodic films on n-InP by spectroscopic ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy

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Date
2003-01
Authors
Buckley, D. Noel
O'Dwyer, Colm
Melly, T.
Serantoni, M.
Sutton, David
Newcomb, Simon B.
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The Electrochemical Society
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Abstract
The growth of anodic films on n-InP in 1 mol dm-1 KOH is investigated under potential sweep conditions. At lower potentials a thin surface film is formed and a peak is observed on the current-voltage curve. Ellipsometric measurements show that this film increases in thickness with increasing potential but the observed thickness values are significantly less than the corresponding coulometrically estimated values. This indicates that much of the charge passed is not involved in the formation of a surface film but presumably in the formation of soluble anodic reaction products. Cyclic voltammograms show that a current peak is also observed on the reverse sweep and ellipsometric measurements show that the anodic film thickness also increases during the reverse sweep until the peak potential is reached. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) shows that the surface becomes smoother as the potential is increased. We attribute this to the formation of nuclei at lower potentials, which coalesce as the layer becomes thicker. Electron diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis show that the surface film is predominantly In2O3 with no evidence of InPO4.
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Keywords
Anodic film , n-InP , Ellipsometric measurement , Coulometry , Cyclic voltammogram (CV) , Atomic force microscopy (AFM) , X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
Citation
Buckley, D. N., O’Dwyer, C., Melly, T., Serantoni, M., Sutton, D., Newcomb, S. B. (2003) 'A Study of Anodic Films on n-InP by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and Atomic Force Microscopy', 204th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Orlando FL, USA, 12-16 October. Pennington, NJ: The Electrochemical Society, 11, pp. 136-151.
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http://www.electrochem.org/dl/pv/published/2003/2003.htm#204pub
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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/1013
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Chemistry - Conference Items
Tyndall National Institute - Conference Items
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© The Electrochemical Society, Inc. 2003. All rights reserved. Except as provided under U.S. copyright law, this work may not be reproduced, resold, distributed, or modified without the express permission of The Electrochemical Society (ECS). The archival version of this work was published in Buckley, D. N., O’Dwyer, C., Melly, T., Serantoni, M., Sutton, D., Newcomb, S. B. (2003) 'A Study of Anodic Films on n-InP by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and Atomic Force Microscopy', 204th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Orlando FL, USA, 12-16 October. Pennington, NJ: The Electrochemical Society, 11, pp. 136-151.