Influence of alloy composition, substrate temperature, and doping concentration on electrical properties of Si-doped n-Al_x Ga_1−x As grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

Capacitance and Hall effect measurements in the temperature range 10-300 K were performed to evaluate the deep and shallow level characteristics of Si-doped n-Al_xGa_-xAs layers with 0 × 0.4 grown by molecular beam epitaxy. For alloy compositions × 0.3 the overall trap concentration was found to be less than 10⁻² of the carrier concentration. In this composition range the transport properties of the ternary alloy are comparable to those of n-GaAs:Si except for lower electron mobibities due to alloy scattering. With higher Al content one dominant electron trap determines the overall electrical properties of the material, and in n-Al_0.35Ga_0.65As:Si the deep trap concentration is already of the order of the free-carrier concentration or even higher. For the composition × = 0.35 ± 0.02 the influence of growth temperature and of Si dopant flux intensity on the deep trap concentration, on shallow and deep level activation energy, and on carrier freeze-out behaviour was studied and analyzed in detail. Our admittance measurements clearly revealed that the previously assumed deepening of the shallow level in n-Al_x Ga_1-x As of alloy composition close to the direct-indirect cross-over point does actuallynot exist. In this composition range an increase of the Si dopant flux leads to a reduction of the thermal activation energy for electron emission from shallow levels due to a lowering of the emission barrier by the electric field of the impurities. The increasing doping flux also enhances the concentration of the dominant electron trap strongly, thus indicating a participation of the dopant atoms in the formation of deep donor-type (D,X) centers. These results are in excellent agreement with the model first proposed by Lang et al. for interpretation of deep electron traps in n-Al_x Ga_1-x grown by liquid phase epitaxy.