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Effect of annealing on the nonequilibrium carrier lifetime in GaAs grown at low temperatures

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Abstract

GaAs samples grown by molecular-beam epitaxy at low (230°C) temperatures are investigated. One of the samples is subjected to aftergrowth annealing at 600°C. Using an unconventional pump-probe scheme for measuring the dynamic variation in the light refractive index, the nonequilibrium charge-carrier lifetime (275 ± 30 fs before annealing) is determined. Such a short carrier lifetime in the unannealed material is due to the high concentration of point defects, mainly AsGa antisite defects. According to X-ray diffraction and steady-state optical absorption data, the AsGa concentration in the samples is 3 × 1019 cm−3, which corresponds to an arsenic excess of 0.26 at %. Upon annealing at 600°C, the superstoichiometric As defects self-organize and form As nanoinclusions in the GaAs crystal matrix. It is shown that in this case the nonequilibrium charge-carrier lifetime increases to 452 ± 5 fs. This lifetime is apparently ensured by the capture of non-equilibrium charge carriers at metal As nanoinclusions.

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Correspondence to V. V. Chaldyshev.

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Original Russian Text © A.A. Pastor, U.V. Prokhorova, P.Yu. Serdobintsev, V.V. Chaldyshev, M.A. Yagovkina, 2013, published in Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, 2013, Vol. 47, No. 8, pp. 1144–1148.

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Pastor, A.A., Prokhorova, U.V., Serdobintsev, P.Y. et al. Effect of annealing on the nonequilibrium carrier lifetime in GaAs grown at low temperatures. Semiconductors 47, 1137–1140 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782613080150

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782613080150

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