Ruthenium related deep-level defects in n-type GaAs

Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) has been used to investigate deep levels in n-type Ru-doped GaAs grown by low-pressure metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). DLTS scans over a wide temperature range (12-470 K) reveal two prominent deep-level peaks associated with Ru, when compared with control samples with no deliberate Ru-doping. The well-known mid-gap defect EL2 is also observed in these scans. The Ru-related deep levels, Ru1 and Ru2, correspond to energy positions Ec-0.46 eV and Ec-0.57 eV in the upper-half-bandgap of GaAs. No prominent deep levels associated with Ru are observed in the lower half-bandgap in the injection DLTS spectra; only the three inadvertent levels already present in the as-grown, control material are observed in these spectra. Although a possible Ru-related peak may be present with a rather small concentration in these injection DLTS spectra, it is difficult to clearly identify this peak also present in the control (as-grown, without Ru) samples at a closely similar position. Interestingly, doping with Ru reveals an interesting significant suppression of the pre-existing deep levels, including EL2. Detailed emission rate signatures are presented for the Ru-related deep levels and analyzed to obtain the relevant deep-level characteristics. Both Ru1 and Ru2 are found to show strong dependence on electric field, as demonstrated by the shift in the corresponding DLTS peak positions with the applied reverse bias during electron emission.