Capacitance-transient-spectroscopy model for defects with two charge states

Abstract

We formulate the set of coupled differential equations that govern the charge capture and emission process of deep levels that present two possible charge states. This solution is obtained considering the steady-state conditions imposed by DLTS (deep level transient spectroscopy) technique procedure. We distinguish three types of defects according to the predominance of one of the three different emission processes. Using our model, we reproduce DLTS spectra of doubly charged defects observed in different semiconductors such as p-type CdTe, electron and proton irradiated n-type GaAs, and sulfur-doped GaSb. Thermal barriers for carrier capture are easily introduced in our equations permitting one to reproduce experimental data even in the case of large lattice relaxation. We show that without a further analysis within the framework of our model, some DLTS spectra of defects with two states of charge might be misinterpreted as is the case for the DX center in GaSb:S.