Increasing the degradation resistance of semi-insulating gallium arsenide crystals by plasma processing

The effect of processing in hydrogen plasma on the resistance of semi-insulating GaAs crystals to degradation under the action of high-frequency (HF) electromagnetic fields and heat treatments has been studied by measuring the room-temperature IR transmission spectra of samples in a 5–15 μm wavelength range. It is established that the transmission of plasma-treated crystals, in contrast to untreated samples, does not decrease under subsequent HF irradiation and even increases in comparison to the initial transmission. A mechanism is proposed that explains the influence of processing in hydrogen plasma on the degradation resistance and optical transmission of semi-insulating GaAs crystals in the IR spectral range. This mechanism takes into account the relaxation of internal mechanical stresses in a near-surface layer of a crystal as a result of the plasma processing.