Epitaxial growth of zinc phosphide

Abstract

We report the first epitaxial growth of Zn3P2. The Zn3P2 epitaxy was obtained on (100) GaAs and ZnSe/GaAs by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition at growth temperatures of 350–400 °C and V/II ratios above 0.8 using dimethylzinc and PH3. The stoichiometry was assessed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at Zn/P=1.5. A Hall mobility of 310 cm2/Vs at 300 K was obtained with a hole concentration of 3.5×1016 cm−3 for Zn3P2 grown at 380 °C. The absorption edge deduced is 1.51 eV at 300 K. Photoluminescence data suggest four acceptor levels (45, 65, 86, and 104 meV at 12.8 K).