Complex diffusion mechanism of Zn in InP

TL;DR

This paper investigates how zinc diffuses into indium phosphide (InP) under different annealing conditions, revealing a complex diffusion mechanism involving phosphorus vacancies that affects the diffusion profile and electrical activity of zinc.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel complex diffusion mechanism of Zn in InP involving phosphorus vacancies, differing from the traditional interstitial-substitutional model.

Findings

Diffusion profiles show sharp slopes due to vacancy-related complexes.

Annealing conditions significantly influence the diffusion mechanism.

The complex mechanism results in lower diffusion coefficients than traditional models.

Abstract

Implantation and diffusion of Zn dopant into bulk InP:S were performed. Zn concentration profiles were investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry and capacitance-voltage method. We find that thermodynamic conditions of annealing influence diffusion mechanism of Zn atoms. Excess phosphorus vacancies generation causes diffusion of Zn dopant by the complex [V_{P}-Zn_{In}-V_{P}] producing characteristic diffusion profile with the sharp slope. Such electrically inactive Zn configuration cause lower diffusion coefficient than that in the generally known interstitial-substitutional mechanism.