High sensitivity, high resolution X-ray photoelectron analysis of InN

Only very few compositional surface and bulk studies of InN have been performed. It is known that there is a strong oxide presence on the surface of InN. We used a high sensitivity, high resolution X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) system to study RF-sputtered and MBE grown InN samples. The energy resolution of the XPS system is such that the oxide and hydroxide contribution to the O1s peak can be easily resolved. 3 keV Ar ion milling was used to examine the bulk properties of the samples. The In3d5, N1s, C1s and O1s peaks were all examined for the samples studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical absorption measurements were also used to help characterize the sample surfaces and it is shown that the shifts in the lattice constant for degenerate material appears to be unrelated to oxygen content.