Behavior of InP:Fe under high electric field

Abstract

The behavior of semi-insulating InP:Fe under high electric field is investigated. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are studied on both long liquid-encapsulated Czochralski-grown samples and short epitaxial-grown layers. These characteristics show a linear regime at low voltages followed, for higher voltages, by a nonlinear behavior and a current breakdown. The critical electric field at which the nonlinearity begins is found to be independent of the sample thickness, the material compensation, and the nature of the contacts, and is equal to 10 kV/cm. This fact rules out the usual explanation in terms of Lampert’s injection theory. In the nonlinear regime, a slow transient response (≊1 s at room temperature) is observed only for long samples. The time constant of this effect exhibits a thermal activation energy (≊0.64 eV) close to that of the iron-related deep level. Field-dependent effects on the thermal emission rate and the capture cross section are discussed. Considering a field enhancement of the capture cross section, we propose a model to explain both the nonlinear characteristics and the slow dynamic behavior of long samples. The current breakdown observed at higher fields is attributed to an impact ionization of the deep levels and not to a trap-filled-limit voltage as previously reported.