Point defects and deep traps in III–V compounds

It is now generally agreed that almost all deep defects in as-grown III–V compounds, and in other semiconductors as well, are not simple, single, substitutional impurities or single vacancies or interstitial atoms. The deep defects observed at room temperature are complexes that may involve all of these. Complexes form from single defects and impurity atoms introduced during crystal growth and processing as the material cools to room temperature. The study of deep defects is therefore an inherently complex subject. In the author's opinion, it is no use to propose simple models with a minimal number of assumed defects and parameters which are adjusted so as to fit some limited set of data. Rather one ought to model the thermodynamic history of the material allowing all plausible defects in the calculations with the best theoretical estimates of their parameters to be adjusted only slightly to fit the widest possible range of data. This modeling must consider not only equilibrium defect concentrations, but also the kinetics of crystal growth, dissolution and oxidation as well as defect diffusion, trapping and complex formation both with and without the effects of photoionization, recombination and electromigration. We are almost to the point where such a model can be performed.