Properties of Ga vacancies in AlGaAs materials

Abstract

Intermixing of AlGaAs-based interfaces is known to be enhanced by capping wafers with a layer of SiO2. Assuming that this enhancement results from the introduction of additional Ga vacancies into the sample, it is possible to obtain the temperature-dependent equilibrium Ga vacancy diffusivity. Experiments are performed whereby SiO2-capped quantum well samples are annealed at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1025 °C. Calculated photoluminescence shifts are compared with the measured spectra, and a relation for the Ga vacancy diffusivity of the form 0.962 exp(−2.72/kBT) cm2/s is obtained. Using this relation, the equilibrium Ga vacancy concentration can be computed via an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation. The resulting expression is 1.25×1031 exp(−3.28/kBT) cm−3.