Deep levels in GaInAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy and their concentration reduction with annealing treatment

X-ray diffraction (XRD), current–voltage (IV), capacitance–voltage (CV), deep-level transient Fourier spectroscopy (DLTFS) and isothermal transient spectroscopy (ITS) techniques are used to investigate the thermal annealing behaviour of three deep levels in Ga0.986In0.014As heavily doped with Si (6.8× 1017 cm−3) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The thermal annealing was performed at 625 ◦C, 650 ◦C, 675 ◦C, 700 ◦C and 750 ◦C for 5 min. XRD study shows good structural quality of the samples and yields an In composition of 1.4%. Two main electron traps are detected by DLTFS and ITS around 280 K, with activation energies of 0.58 eV and 0.57 eV, capture cross sections of 9× 10−15 cm2 and 8.6× 10−14 cm2 and densities of 2.8× 1016 cm−3 and 9.6× 1015 cm−3, respectively. They appear overlapped and as a single peak, which divides into two smaller peaks after annealing at 625 ◦C for 5 min. Annealing at higher temperatures further reduces the trap concentrations. A secondary electron trap is found at 150 K with an activation energy of 0.274 eV, a capture cross section of 8.64× 10−15 cm2 and a density of 1.38× 1015 cm−3. The concentration of this trap level is also decreased by thermal annealing. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.