Stability of theEL2center in GaAs under electron-hole recombination conditions

We report a study of the effects of electron-hole recombination on the stability of the $\mathrm{EL}2\mathrm{}$ center in GaAs. In addition to possible recombination-enhanced diffusion, we have examined the effects of recombination on the low-temperature metastable optical properties of the $\mathrm{EL}2\mathrm{}$ center. No defect migration or annealing was observed, and no changes in metastable properties were evident for diode injection currents up to 60 A${\mathrm{cm}}^{-2\mathrm{}}$ at temperatures up to 400°C. The implications of these results with respect to the identity of the $\mathrm{EL}2\mathrm{}$ defect are discussed.