[en] We have used ion channeling to examine the lattice configuration of hydrogen in Mg doped wurtzite GaN grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Hydrogen is introduced by exposure to hydrogen gas or electron cyclotron resonance plasmas and by ion implantation. A density functional approach including lattice relaxation was used to calculate total energies for various locations and charge states of hydrogen in the wurtzite Mg doped GaN lattice. Results of channeling measurements are compared with channeling simulations for hydrogen at lattice locations predicted by the density functional theory. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

[en] The diffusion and release of H and its uptake from the gas phase are modeled for Mg-doped, wurtzite GaN using formation energies and vibration frequencies from the density-function theory. Comparison is made with rates of deuterium release and uptake measured by nuclear-reaction analysis of deuterium concentration. Good agreement is found when account is taken of a surface permeation barrier

[en] Formation energies and vibration frequencies for H in wurtzite GaN were calculated from density-functional theory and used to predict equilibrium state occupancies and solid solubilities at elevated temperatures for p-type, intrinsic, and n-type material. The solubility of deuterium (D) was measured in p-type, Mg-doped GaN at 600, 700, and 800^oC as a function of D₂ pressure and compared with theory. Agreement was obtained by reducing the H formation energies 0.22 eV from ab initio theoretical values. The predicted stretch-mode frequency for H bound to the Mg acceptor lies 5% above an observed infrared absorption attributed to this complex. More limited solubility measurements were carried out for nominally undoped material rendered n-type by donors provisionally identified as O impurities, and results agree well with theory after the aforementioned adjustment of formation energies. It is concluded that currently recognized H states and physical processes can account for the equilibrium, elevated-temperature behavior of H examined in this work

[en] An improved method for measuring the cross sections for carrier trapping at defects in semiconductors is described. This method, a variation of deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) used with bipolar transistors, is applied to hot carrier trapping at vacancy-oxygen, carbon-oxygen, and three charge states of divacancy centers (V_2) in n- and p-type silicon. Unlike standard DLTS, we fill traps by injecting carriers into the depletion region of a bipolar transistor diode using a pulse of forward bias current applied to the adjacent diode. We show that this technique is capable of accurately measuring a wide range of capture cross sections at varying electric fields due to the control of the carrier density it provides. Because this technique can be applied to a variety of carrier energy distributions, it should be valuable in modeling the effect of radiation-induced generation-recombination currents in bipolar devices

[en] High resolution measurements of spectrally resolved cathodoluminescence (CL) decay have been made in several commercial and experimental phosphors doped with Eu and Tb at beam energies ranging from 0.8 to 4 keV. CL emission from the lowest two excited states of both rare-earth activators was compared to the decay of photoluminescence (PL) after pulsed laser excitation. We find that, at long times after the cessation of electron excitation, the CL decay rates are comparable to those measured in PL; at short times, the decay process is considerably faster and has a noticeable dependence on the energy of the electron beam. These beam energy effects are largest for the higher excited states and for phosphors with larger activator concentrations. Measurements of the experimental phosphors over a range of activator fractions from 0.1 to 0.002 show that the beam energy dependence of the steady-state CL efficiency is larger for higher excited states and weakens as the activator concentration is reduced; the latter effect is strongest for Y₂SiO₅:Tb, but also quite evident in Y₂O₃:Eu. We suggest that the electron beam dependence of both the decay lifetimes and the steady state CL efficiency may be due to interaction of nearby excited states which occurs as a result of the large energy deposition rate for low energy electrons. This picture for nonradiative quenching of rare-earth emission is an excited state analog of the well-known (ground state-excited state) concentration quenching mechanism. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

[en] Using deep level transient spectroscopy, the authors have measured the defect spectrum in the collector of a n-p-n bipolar transistor following fast neutron irradiation as well as the gain on the same device. They show that a slow change observed in both the gain and deep level traps in the n-type collector at 300 K are bistable. The transistor gain and the defects can be returned to the postirradiation condition by forward bias at room temperature, i.e., by operating the transistor (gain) or injection through the base-collector diode (defect spectrum)

[en] We find that fast neutron irradiated n- and p-GaAs diodes both show a broad feature in deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) previously studied primarily in n-GaAs and termed the ''U-band.'' The high temperature edge of the broad DLTS feature cuts off at the same temperature in both n- and p-GaAs suggesting that the cut off is due to the DLTS behavior expected for a continuous density of defect states that spans midgap. The band gap implied by the DLTS midgap cut off is 1.36 eV, as compared to the bulk GaAs band gap 1.52 eV. Band gap narrowing is consistent with previous measurements of lattice expansion in neutron irradiated GaAs. This leads to a model of defect cascades that are regions of narrowed band gap with defect levels that are inhomogeneously broadened. We observe, in addition, that the damage cascades are surrounded by large Coulomb barriers that prevent the complete filling of traps in the damaged regions.

[en] We have measured the temperature and field dependence of emission rates from five traps in electron damaged GaAs. Four of the traps have previously been identified as radiation defects. One of the traps, seen in higher doped diodes, has not been previously identified. We have fit the data to a multiphonon emission theory that allows recombination in GaAs to be characterized over a broad range of temperature and electric field. These results demonstrate an efficient method to calculate field-dependent emission rates in GaAs.

[en] Electron and hole transport in compensated InGaAsN (≅2% N) are examined through Hall mobility, photoconductivity, and solar cell photoresponse measurements. Short minority carrier diffusion lengths, photoconductive-response spectra, and doping dependent, thermally activated Hall mobilities reveal a broad distribution of localized states. At this stage of development, lateral carrier transport appears to be limited by large scale (>> mean free path) material inhomogeneities, not a random alloy-induced mobility edge. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics