Electron lifetime of heavily Be-doped In0.53Ga0.47As as a function of growth temperature and doping density

Abstract

The electron lifetime has been studied by a pump–probe optical transmission technique in heavily Be-doped InGaAs lattice matched to InP as a function of the growth temperature (350⩽Tg⩽500 °C) and doping (2×1019⩽[Be]⩽2.6×1020 cm−3). Reduction of the growth temperature to 350–400 °C induces the creation of electron recombining centers, efficient at the lowest doping studied here. But, for higher dopings, these defects have negligible effects compared to intrinsic Auger processes: the high diffusion of Be can thus be limited by growing heterostructures at reduced temperatures without compromising the electron lifetime. Subpicosecond electron lifetimes have been measured at the highest doping.