Passivation of zinc acceptors in InP by atomic hydrogen coming from arsine during metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Abstract
The passivation of zinc acceptors in InP has been observed, originally in zinc-doped InGaAs/InP heterostructures. Evidence is presented to show that hydrogen, which has been detected by secondary ion mass spectrometry, is responsible for the phenomenon and that the source of atomic hydrogen is the arsine used in the epitaxial process. The hydrogen is bound within the epitaxial layers during the cooling down stage after growth is complete.