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Letter

Nature Materials 1, 99–101 (1 October 2002) | doi:10.1038/nmat735

Direct determination of epitaxial interface structure in Gd2O3 passivation of GaAs

Yizhak Yacoby , Mukhles Sowwan , Edward Stern , Julie O. Cross , Dale Brewe , Ron Pindak , John Pitney , Eric M. Dufresne & Roy Clarke

Obtaining accurate structural information on epitaxial films and interfaces is nowhere more critical than in semiconductor passivation layers, where details of the atomic structure and bonding determine the nature of the interface electronic states. Various non-destructive methods have been used to investigate the structure of films and interfaces, but their interpretation is model-dependent, leading occasionally to wrong conclusions.