In situ purification of compound phosphorus source for solid source molecular beam epitaxy

摘要

A method for removing oxygen and moisture from a phosphorus beam in an MBE deposition apparatus. Gallium phosphide (12) is placed in a generation chamber (10) along with solid indium (14) and solid aluminum (16). When the gallium phosphide is heated to 1000°C, the indium and aluminum melts and forms an alloy (18) with the liquid gallium which is formed when the phosphorus sublimates. The alloy acts as a getter to remove any oxygen and water which is generated from the gallium phosphide. The reaction occurs between the aluminum in the alloy and the oxygen and water.