Abstract
Using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KFM), we have measured the surface potential of InAs thin films grown on flat or vicinal surfaces of GaAs(110) substrates. We found that the observed potential distribution corresponded to the surface corrugation of the InAs films and that the evaluated surface Fermi level position of the thick InAs was slightly closer to the vacuum level than that of the thin InAs. It was also found that the removal of the water-related contamination from both surfaces of the tip and the sample was very effective in order to improve the reliability of the potential measurements by KFM.
