Comparison of SiIII-SiV and SiIII-VIII diffusion models in III-V heterostructures lattice matched to GaAs

Abstract
The diffusion of SiIII‐SiV neutral pairs versus the diffusion of SiIII‐VIII complexes in III‐V crystals is compared in the light of experimental data showing the effect of Si diffusion on self‐diffusion of column III and column V lattice atoms. Secondary‐ion mass spectroscopy is used to compare the enhanced diffusion of column III or column V atoms in several different Si‐diffused heterostructures closely lattice matched to GaAs. Enhancement of the lattice‐atom self‐diffusion, via impurity diffusion, is found to occur predominantly on the column III lattice. Supporting the SiIII‐VIII diffusion model, these data indicate that the main native defects accompanying the Si diffusion are column III vacancies, which diffuse directly on the column III sublattice.