Hydrogenation passivation of acceptors in MOCVD grown p-INSB

Abstract

We report on the effects of hydrogenation of InSb GaAs epilayers. The as-grown MOCVD InSb is p-type with an acceptor activation energy of 16 meV. The 16 meV impurity, however, is fully passivated during protonation in a hydrogen microwave plasma, revealing a shallower, 2 meV acceptor which appears unaffected by further processing. The material remains p-type after hydrogenation and the Fermi level calculations reveal that the majority carriers over the entire temperature range are holes. The electron to hole mobility ratio is sufficiently large however, that the Hall data shows evidence for an apparent type conversion.