DX CENTERS IN SELECTIVELY SI-DOPED GAAS-ALAS SUPERLATTICES

DX center has been characterized in four GaAsAlAs superlattices grown by MBE at 580°C. The structures are uniformly Si-doped or selectively Si-doped in the AlAs layers or in the middle of the GaAs layers or on both sides of the interfaces. Deep level transient spectroscopy measurements (DLTS) put in evidence one dominant electron trap, with an activation energy for thermal emission of about 0.42eV for all the superlattices. This defect shows a thermally activated capture cross section and a large concentration except for the case where the only GaAs layers are doped. For the first time, a study of the capture reveals a capture activation energy of 0.36-0.37 eV, which allows us to locate the DX level nearly 60 meV below the conduction miniband. From these results, we show that the observed DX center is related to silicon in the AlAs layers. For the case when the AlAs barriers are not doped, the DX level is due to the Si diffusion from the middle of the wells towards the barriers, the Si atoms having diffused during the growth. © 1990.