Anomalous photoluminescence and raman scattering behavior in heavily Mg⁺ ion-implanted InP

Abstract

Mg⁺ ions were implanted into highly pure InP grown by the liquid encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) method in which the Mg concentration [Mg] was varied between 1×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ and 3×10²⁰ cm^–3. Two annealing methods were used: furnace annealing (FA) up to 740° C and flash lamp annealing (rapid thermal annealing, RTA) up to 900° C. For characterization, photoluminescence (PL) spectra were measured between 2K and room temperature together with Raman scattering measurements at room temperature. An emission designated by g, which was attributed to a novel energy state of an isolated acceptor, was found to be produced for a rather low value of [Mg]. In addition, a broad emission denoted by [g−g], which was ascribed to acceptor-acceptor pairs, was observed below bound exciton emissions for moderate values of [Mg]. These features were quite similar to those previously observed in acceptor-doped GaAs when the background concentration of donors is extremely low. Two additional novel emissions located far below the band-to-acceptor emission were also obtained, and each showed a remarkable energy shift towards lower energy with increasing [Mg]. The binding energies of these emissions were estimated from the temperature dependence of PL spectra and the results suggest that they are complex-type radiative recombination centers, presumably donor-acceptor-type centers. A strong broad emission centered near the band-to-acceptor emission was observed for [Mg]=3×10²⁰ cm⁻³. This observation indicates a formation of a new material between In, P and Mg, which was also attested by the appearance of a new TO-like Raman signal for [Mg] greater than 1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³. A substantial difference of PL and Raman spectra was revealed for the two annealing methods, suggesting that the annealing behaviour of ion-implanted InP should be investigated more extensively in order to establish reliable annealing procedures.