Local Vibrational Mode (LVM) Spectroscopy of Semiconductors

Abstract

AbstractImpurities and defects with masses smaller than the masses of the host semiconductor crystal atoms typically exhibit vibrational frequencies well above the phonon frequency spectrum. These vibrational modes produce sharp spectral absorption features in the infrared. Because of their strong spatial localization these modes are not affected by neighboring impurities and/or defects with concentrations up to 1019 cm−3. This insensitivity is especially advantageous when the free carrier concentration must be reduced through the introduction of electron irradiation defects or when highly doped thin layers must be investigated. LVM spectroscopy with perturbations such as polarization of the probe light, uniaxial and hydrostatic stress, and isotope substitution has been highly successful in identifying the structure and composition of a large number of defect complexes. Hydrogen, in particular, forming a wide variety of complexes in elemental and compound semiconductors has been extensively studied with LVM spectroscopy. For example, it has been shown recently that nitrogen acceptors are hydrogen passivated in MOCVD grown ZnSe. Carbon and oxygen have been investigated in all major semiconductors with LVM spectroscopy. The extreme simplification of the spectrum of bond centered oxygen through isotope enrichment of several Ge crystals has been demonstrated. Additional recent investigations of importance to the currently much studied semiconductors will be reviewed.