Diffusion and Defect Phenomena in III-V Semiconductors and their Investigation by Transmission Electron Microscopy

Abstract

This article reviews the studies of diffusion and defect phenomena induced by high-concentration zinc diffusion in the single-crystal III-V compound semiconductors GaAs, GaP, GaSb and InP by methods of transmission electron microscopy and their consequences for numerical modelling of Zn (and Cd) diffusion concentration profiles. Zinc diffusion from the vapour phase into single-crystal wafers has been chosen as a model case for interstitial-substitutional dopant diffusion in these studies. The characteristics of the formation of diffusion-induced extended defects and of the temporal evolution of the defect microstructure correlate with the experimentally determined Zn profiles whose shapes depend on the chosen diffusion conditions. General phenomena observed for all semiconductors are the formation of dislocation loops, precipitates, voids, and dislocations and of Zn-rich precipitates in the diffusion regions. The formation of extended defects near the diffusion front can be explained as result of point defect supersaturations generated by interstitial-substitutional zinc exchange via the kick-out mechanism. The defects may act as sinks for dopants and as sources and sinks for point defects during the continuing diffusion process, thereby providing a path to establishing defect-mediated local point defect equilibria. The investigations established a consistent picture of the formation and temporal evolution of defects and the mechanisms of zinc diffusion in these semiconductors for diffusion conditions leading to high-concentration Zn concentrations. Based on these results, numerical modelling of anomalously shaped dopant concentration profiles leads to satisfactory quantitative results and yields information on type and charge states of the point defect species involved, also for near-surface Zn concentration profiles and the absence of extended defects.