Arsenic antisite defects in p-GaAs grown by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition and the EL2 defect

Epitaxial layers of p-GaAs grown on p(+)-GaAs substrates by low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition have been investigated using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). One dominant peak and other relatively small peak, corresponding to deep levels at E(nu)+0.55 eV and E(nu)+0.96 (low field energies), respectively, have been observed in the lower half of the band gap. Investigation with double-correlation DLTS reveals that the measured thermal emission rate of holes from the dominant level is strongly dependent on the junction electric field. Detailed data on this field enhancement have been analyzed in terms of different available theoretical models. The hole capture cross section for the dominant deep level has been found to be temperature dependent. Detailed data on the temperature dependence of the hole capture cross section have been interpreted in terms of the multiphonon carrier capture mechanism, yielding a capture barrier of 0.11 eV. In order to get deeper insight into the nature and origin of these inadvertent (intrinsic) defects, thermal annealing behavior of these levels has also been studied. Analyses of field dependence and hole capture data, in combination with the annealing study, suggest that the dominant level is associated with an arsenic-antisite (As(Ga)) defect. Probable association of this dominant level with the doubly charged state of the well-known EL2 defect has been discussed in detail. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3243162]