Enhancement of luminescence in GaAs by low levels of Cu

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Abstract
In a previous paper it was reported that GaAs, after rapid thermal annealing, exhibited bright regions adjacent to the sample surfaces in the cross‐section cathodoluminescence image. In this report it is shown that these bright bands are associated with the presence of Cu, as indicated by photoluminescence measurements. It is proposed that the Cu diffuses into GaAs during annealing, from residual Cu on the sample surface. To test this hypothesis, samples were treated to alter the residual Cu prior to annealing. Removing the Cu markedly reduced the depth of the bright bands; adding Cu markedly increased the depth, in agreement with the proposed mechanism.