Raman Scattering Study of the High Pressure Oxidation of InP.

Attempts to use thermally grown native oxides on InP have failed to produce a dielectric which is suitable for MIS transistor applications. One of the known shortcomings of such films is that they contain elemental red phosphorus. Recent literature reports indicated that oxidation under high pressure conditions converted the elemental phosphorus into P sub 2 O sub 5. We have re-examined this finding for oxygen pressures up to 300 atmospheres using Raman scattering. Red phosphorus is detected in both low (1 atmosphere) and high (300 atmosphere) pressure oxidized films independent of the substrate doping type.