Aqueous bromine etching of InP: a specific surface chemistry
Résumé
The n ‐InP behaviour in HBr (0.1‐1.0 M)/Br 2 (1.25 × 10 ‐2 M) aqueous solutions is studied by AAS, XPS and SEM‐FEG. Indium AAS‐titrations of the HBr/Br 2 solutions demonstrate that InP undergoes an etching mechanism whatever the HBr/Br 2 formulation. The etching process is always linear with time but its rate depends on the HBr concentration. XPS analyses permit to link the apparent slow‐down of the dissolution process when decreasing the HBr molarity from 1.0 M to 0.1 M to the presence of a mixed (In,P) ox oxide layer on the surface. Therefore, the dissolution process of InP in HBr/Br 2 solution appears to be ruled by the surface chemical state (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)