Shallow donor defect formation and its influence on semi-insulating indium phosphide after high temperature annealing with long duration

Fe-doped semi-insulating (SI) InP has become semi-conducting (SC) material completely after annealing at 900 V for 10 hours. Defects in the SC and SI InP materials have been studied by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and thermally stimulated current spectroscopy (TSC) respectively. The DLTS only detected Fe acceptor related deep level defect with significant concentration, suggesting the formation of a high concentration of shallow donor in the SC-InP TSC results confirmed the nonexistence of deep level defects in the annealed SI-InP. The results demonstrate a significant influence of the thermally induced defects on the electrical properties of SI-InP. The formation mechanism and the nature of the shallow donor defect have been discussed based on the results.

Planar refractive microlens arrays in indium phosphide and quartz substrates

Large-area concave refractive microlens arrays, or concave template structures, and then the non-refractive-index-gradient type of planar refractive microlens arrays in InP and quartz substrates, are fabricated utilizing the method consisting of conventional UV photolithography, thermal shaping of concave photoresist microlenses, etching with an argon ion beam of large diameter, and filling or growing optical medium structures onto the curved surfaces of preshaped concave templates. Several key conditions for fabricating concave and also planar microlenses are discussed in detail. The concave structures obtained are characterized by scanning electron microscope and surface profile measurements. The far-field optical characteristics of quartz/ZrO2 planar refractive microlens arrays have been acquired experimentally. (c) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Microdefects and electrical uniformity of InP annealed in phosphorus and iron phosphide ambiances

Microdefects originating from impurity-dislocation interactions in undoped InP that had been annealed in phosphorus and iron phosphide ambiances have been studied using optical microscopy. The electrical uniformity of the annealed wafer is improved by removing impurity aggregation around dislocations and by eliminating impurity striations in the annealing process. Compared to as-grown Fe-doped semi-insulating (SI) material, SI wafers obtained by annealing undoped InP in iron phosphide ambiances have better uniformity. This is attributed to the avoidance of Fe aggregation around dislocations and dislocation clusters, Fe precipitation and impurity striations, and is related to the use of a low concentration of Fe in the annealed material. The influence of Fe diffusion on the migration of dislocations in the annealing process has been studied and reviewed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PHOTOINDUCED CHANGES OF HYDROGEN-BONDING IN SEMIINSULATING IRON-DOPED INDIUM-PHOSPHIDE

After illumination with 1-1.3 eV photons during cooling-down, metastable PH modes are observed by IR absorption at 5 K in semi-insulating InP:Fe. They correlate with the photo-injection of holes, but not with a change of the charge state of the K-related centres present at equilibrium. They are explained by a change of the bonding of H, induced by hole trapping, from IR-inactive centres to PH-containing centres, stable only below 80 K. One metastable centre has well-defined geometrical parameters and the other one could be located in a region near from the interface with (Fe,P) precipitates.

Influence of semi-insulating InP substrates on InAlAs epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Tensile-strained InAlAs layers have been grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy on as-grown Fe-doped semi-insulating (SI) InP substrates and undoped SI InP substrates obtained by annealing undoped conductive InP wafers (wafer-annealed InP). The effect of the two substrates on InAlAs epilayers and InAlAs/InP type II heterostructures has been studied by using a variety of characterization techniques. Our calculation data proved that the out-diffusion of Fe atoms in InP substrate may not take place due to their low diffusion, coefficient. Double-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements show that the lattice mismatch between the InAlAs layers and the two substrates is different, which is originated from their different Fe concentrations. Furthermore, photoluminescence results indicate that the type II heterostructure grown on the wafer-annealed InP substrate exhibits better optical and interface properties than that grown on the as-grown Fe-doped substrate. We have also given a physically coherent explanation on the basis of these investigations. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence characteristics of InP annealed in phosphorus and iron phosphide ambiences

Photo luminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been used to study InP annealed in phosphorus and iron phosphide ambiences. Noticeable PL emissions related with thermally induced defects have been detected in undoped InP annealed in iron phosphide ambience. Origins of the PL emissions have been discussed. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fe-diffusion-induced defects in InP annealed in iron phosphide ambient

Photoluminescence (PL) and photo induced current transient spectroscopy (PICTS) have been used to study deep levels in semi-insulating (SI) InP prepared by annealing undoped InP in pure phosphorus (PP) and iron phosphide (IP) ambient. Defects are much fewer in IP SI-InP than in PP SI-InP. Deep-level-related PL emission could only be detected in IP SI-InP. The results indicate that Fe diffusion inhibits the thermal formation of a number of defects in annealed InP. A complex defect has been formed in the annealing process in the presence of Fe.

Positron-annihilation study of compensation defects in InP

Positron-annihilation lifetime and positron-annihilation Doppler-broadening (PADB) spectroscopies have been employed to investigate the formation of vacancy-type compensation defects in n-type undoped liquid encapsulated Czochrolski grown InP, which undergoes conduction-type conversions under high temperature annealing. N-type InP becomes p-type semiconducting by short time annealing at 700 degreesC, and then turns into n-type again after further annealing but with a much higher resistivity. Long time annealing at 950 degreesC makes the material semi-insulating. Positron lifetime measurements show that the positron average lifetime tau(av) increases from 245 ps to a higher value of 247 ps for the first n-type to p-type conversion and decreases to 240 ps for the ensuing p-type to n-type conversion. The value of tau(av) increases slightly to 242 ps upon further annealing and attains a value of 250 ps under 90 h annealing at 950 degreesC. These results together with those of PADB measurements are explained by the model proposed in our previous study. The correlation between the characteristics of positron annihilation and the conversions of conduction type indicates that the formation of vacancy-type defects and the progressive variation of their concentrations during annealing are related to the electrical properties of the bulk InP material. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Residual donors in undoped LEC InP

Undoped liquid encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) InP samples have been studied by Hall effect, glow discharge mass spectroscopy (GDMS) and infrared absorption spectroscopy. A systematic discrepancy has been found between the Han electron concentration and net donor concentration measured by GDMS. The electron concentration is always higher than the net shallow donor concentration by about (3-6)x10(15)cm(-3). A hydrogen indium vacancy complex donor defect VInH4 was detected regularly by infrared absorption spectroscopy in all undoped LEC InP samples. The fact can be explained by taking into account the existence of the donor defect in as-grown undoped LEC-InP.

Formation mechanisms of uniform arrays of periodic nanoparticles and nanoripples on 6H-SiC crystal surface induced by femtosecond laser ablation

Uniform arrays of periodic nanoparticles with 80-nm period are formed on 6H-SiC crystal irradiated by circularly polarized 400-nm femtosecond laser pulses. In order to understand the formation mechanism, the morphology evolvement as a function of laser pulse energy and number is studied. Periodic nanoripples are also formed on the sample surface irradiated by linearly polarized 400-, 510- and 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses. All these results support well the mechanism that second-harmonic generation plays an important role in the formation of periodic nanostructures.

Femtosecond laser pulse irradiation of Sb-rich AgInSbTe films: Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy investigations

The single-layer and multilayer Sb-rich AgInSbTe films were irradiated by a single femtosecond laser pulse with the duration of 120 fs. The morphological feature resulting from the laser irradiation have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy and atom force microscopy. For the single-layer film, the center of the irradiated spot is a dark depression and the border is a bright protrusion; however, for the multilayer film, the center morphology changes from a depression to a protrusion as the energy increases. The crystallization threshold fluence of the single-layer and the multilayer films is 46.36 mJ/cm(2), 63.74 mJ/cm(2), respectively.

Quantum Confinement Effects and Electronic Properties of SnO2 Quantum Wires and Dots

On the basis of the density functional theory (DFT) within local density approximations (LDA) approach, we calculate the band gaps for different size SnO2 quantum wire (QWs) and quantum dots (QDs). A model is proposed to passivate the surface atoms of SnO2 QWs and QDs. We find that the band gap increases between QWs and bulk evolve as Delta E-g(wire) = 1.74/d(1.20) as the effective diameter d decreases, while being Delta E-g(dot) = 2.84/d(1.26) for the QDs. Though the similar to d(1.2) scale is significantly different from similar to d(2) of the effective mass result, the ratio of band gap increases between SnO2 QWs and QDs is 0.609, very close to the effective mass prediction. We also confirm, although the LDS calculations underestimate the band gap, that they give the trend of band gap shift as much as that obtained by the hybrid functional (PBE0) with a rational mixing of 25% Fock exchange and 75% of the conventional Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange functional for the SnO2 QWs and QDs. The relative deviation of the LDA calculated band gap difference Lambda E-g compared with the corresponding PBE0 results is only within 5%. Additionally, it is found the states of valence band maximum (VBM) and conduction band minimum (CBM) of SnO2 QWs or QDs have a mostly p- and s-like envelope function symmetry, respectively, from both LDA and PBE0 calculations.

Thermally induced Fe atom transition from substitutional to interstitial sites in InP and its influence on material property

As-grown Fe-doped semi-insulating InP single crystal has been converted into n-type low-resistance material after high temperature annealing. Defects in the InP materials have been studied by conventional Hall effect measurement, thermally stimulated current spectroscopy, deep level transient spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction respectively. The results indicate that Fe atoms in the InP material change from the substitutional to the interstitial sites under thermal activation. Consequently, the InP material loses its deep compensation centers which results in the change in types of conduction. The mechanism and cause of the phenomena have been analyzed through comparison of the sites of Fe atom occupation and activation in doping, diffusion and ion implantation processes of InP.

Generation and suppression of deep level defects in InP

Deep level defects in as-grown and annealed n-type and semi-insulating InP have been studied. After annealing in phosphorus ambient, a large quantity of deep level defects were generated in both n-type and semi-insulating InP materials. In contrast, few deep level defects exist in InP after annealing in iron phosphide ambient. The generation of deep level defects has direct relation with in-diffusion of iron and phosphorus in the annealing process. The in-diffused phosphorus and iron atoms occupy indium sites in the lattice, resulting in the formation of P anti-site defects and iron deep acceptors, respectively. T e results indicate that iron atoms fully occupy indium sites and suppress the formation of indium vacancy and P anti-site, etc., whereas indium vacancies and P anti-site defects. are formed after annealing in phosphor-us ambient. The nature of the deep level defects in InP has been studied based on the results.