Aqueous stability of Ga- and N-polar gallium nitride

The stability of III-nitride semiconductors in various solutions becomes important as researchers begin to integrate them into sensing platforms. This study quantitatively compares the stability of GaN surfaces with different polarities. This type of quantification is important because it represents the first step toward designing semiconductor material interfaces compatible with solution conditions. A stability study of Ga- and N-polar GaN was conducted by immersion of the surfaces in deionized H(2)O, pH 5, pH 9, and H(2)O(2) solutions for 7 days. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry of the solutions was conducted to determine the amount of gallium leached from the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to compare the treated surfaces to untreated surfaces. The results show that both gallium nitride surface types exhibit the greatest stability in acidic and neutral solutions. Gallium polar surfaces were found to exhibit superior stability to nitrogen polar surfaces in the solutions studied. Our findings highlight the need for further research on surface passivation and functionalization techniques for polar III-nitride semiconductors.