A deep level transient spectroscopy study of electron traps in n-type GaAs after pulsed electron beam irradiation

Abstract

Electrical and deep level transient spectroscopy measurements on Schottky barriers were performed in order to characterize electrically active defects in n-type GaAs (Bridgman substrates or liquid-phase epitaxial layers) after pulsed electron beam annealing. Both surface damage and bulk defects were observed in the Bridgman substrates depending on the pulse energy density. No electron traps were detected in the liquid-phase epitaxial layers before and after annealing for an energy density of 0.4 J/cm2. The existence of an interfacial insulating layer at the metal-semiconductor interface, associated with As out-diffusion during the pulsed electron irradiation, was revealed by the abnormally high values of the Schottky barrier diffusion potential. Moreover, two new electron traps with activation energy of 0.35 and 0.43 eV, called EP1 and EP2, were introduced in the Bridgman substrates after pulsed electron beam annealing. The presence of these traps, related to the As evaporation, was tentatively attributed to the decrease of the EL2 electron trap signal after 0.4-J/cm2 annealing. It is proposed that these new defects states are due to the decomposition of the AsGa-Asi complex recently considered as the most probable defect configuration for the dominant EL2 electron trap usually detected in as-grown GaAs substrates.