The origin of carbon-related carrier compensation in p-type GaN layers grown by MOVPE

Abstract

The role of carbon impurities in p-type GaN layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) was investigated. The lightly Mg-doped (∼1017 cm−3) p-type GaN samples with different carbon concentration [C] were prepared by controlling growth temperature and pressure. Temperature-dependent Hall-effect analyses exhibited an increase in donor concentration with increasing [C]. The low-temperature mobility also decreased with increasing [C], as a result of mobility limitation due to ionized impurity scattering. These results show that carbon atoms in MOVPE-grown p-GaN layers act as ionized donors and cause carrier compensation. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) using bias pulses detected the existence of Hd traps (EV +0.88 eV) arising from the 0/−1 charge state of carbon on nitrogen sites (CN). The concentrations of Hd traps closely corresponded to [C] values in p-type GaN layers. Employing low-frequency capacitance DLTS to avoid carrier freeze-out at low temperatures, we newly discovered the Ha trap (EV +0.29 eV) whose concentration was directly proportional to the [C] value. These findings suggest that the Ha trap originates from CN identical to the Hd trap. Based on prior theoretical calculations of energy levels, the Ha trap can reasonably be assigned to a +1/0 donor state of CN. These results strongly suggest that a CN having two different charged states can compensate an electron and a hole in n-type and p-type GaN layers, respectively.