Native Point Defects and Nonstoichiometry in GaAs (II) Mechanism of Formation and Degradation of Semiinsulating Properties of Undoped Gallium Arsenide Crystals

The nature of the main electron trap, EL2, in undoped semiinsulating GaAs crystals have been studied both qualitatively and quantitatively. It has been shown that point defects which, most probably, are responsible for the EL2 level are antisite As_Ga defects or (As_i V_Gs) complexes which are indistinguishable from the thermodynamic standpoint. The enthalpy and entropy of As_Ga formation according to the reaction As_As + V_Ga ⇄ As_Ga + V_As are equal to 0.5 eV and −7k, respectively.