Abstract
We propose a new theory of entropy-driven, charge-state-controlled metastability in semiconductors. The entropy change due to metastable defect ionization near 300 K reduces the Gibbs free energy by up to 0.1 eV. This affects equilibrium populations of the various defect charge states and configurations. An example is found in the experiment of Hamilton, Peaker, and Pantelides [Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 1679 (1988)] in which a deep level transient spectroscopy signal suddenly disappears during cooling when the ionization entropy term causes a defect’s stable local energy minimum to become metastable.
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