The electrical activity of a defect in a semiconductor material is usually expressed in terms of the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) theory which provides an expression for the generation or recombination lifetime. Along the same lines, one can calculate the leakage current generated by a single defect in the depletion region of a junction, as shown in Fig. 1 [1]. It is clear that for III-V based ternary alloys, like the In_xGa_1-xAs system, the generation current depends proportionally on the intrinsic carrier concentration n_i (see equation in Fig. 1). However, equally important is also the variation of the defect energy level E_T as a function of the In content x: for E_T pinned to the intrinsic Fermi level E_i(x), the leakage current will follow n_i. On the other hand, when E_T is pinned to either the valence or conduction band, the leakage current will decrease exponentially with the difference |E_T-E_i| [2]. It is thus important to derive the variation of E_T with alloy composition x for a certain type of defect and to establish what could be consideredas a kind of Vegard’s law for specific deep levels. In addition, when integrating III-V compounds on a silicon CMOS platform, extended defects will be inevitably introduced [3]; for a sufficiently high density, they will govern the reverse current [3,4]. It is thus of vital importance to study the electrical parameters of extended defects in III-V-on-silicon materials and their evolution with composition x.

The aim of the this work is to review what is known about the electrical activity of extended defects in In_xGa_1-xAs-based hetero-epitaxial layers. Results will be described about a combined p-n diode current-voltage (I-V) and lifetime analysis on a set of nearly strain-free layers where x=0.53 with varying densities of extended defects [5]. Based on this, it is demonstrated that for an extended defect density exceeding ~2×10⁷ cm^-2 the SRH lifetime becomes dominated by a near mid-gap trap level, associated with them. A detailed Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) analysis provides further information about the electrical activity of these extended defects and confirms the presence of a dominant electron trap. The corresponding activation energy is represented in Fig. 2 versus x and compared with available literature data. In addition, it is shown that this deep level indeed belongs to an extended defect, based on the electron capture behavior, varying approximately logarithmically with the capture time [4]. Moreover, it can be shown that the electron traps belong to a one-dimensional band-of-states, associated with a ‘perfect’ extended defect. According to Fig. 2, this level appears to follow approximately E_i(x), so that it will dominate the leakage current of a p-n junction over a wide composition range, at least up to 0.53, when present in a sufficient density. Moreover, the defects will become more efficient leakage centers for increasing x. Finally, the implications of the band-like nature of the energy states of extended defects on the carrier generation/recombination will be discussed.

[1] J. Vanhellemont and E. Simoen, J. Electrochem. Soc, 154, H572 (2007).

[2] E. Simoen, J. Lauwaert and H. Vrielinck, Semiconductors and Semimetals, Eds. L. Romano, V. Privitera and C. Jagadish, 91, pp. 205-250, Elsevier 2015.

[3] E. Simoen, “Impact of defects on the performance of high-mobility semiconductor devices”, In: High Mobility Materials for CMOS Applications, Ed. N. Collaert, Elsevier, Ch. 5, July 2018.

[4] C. Claeys et al., ECS J. Solid State Sci. and Technol., 5, P3149 (2016).

[5] P.-C. Hsu et al., J. Appl. Phys., 124, 165707 (2018).