Characterization of Hydrogen Complex Formation in III-V Semiconductors

Atomic hydrogen has been found to react with some impurity species in semiconductors. Hydrogenation is a methodology for the introduction of atomic hydrogen into the semiconductor for the express purpose of forming complexes within the material. Efforts to develop hydrogenation as an isolation technique for AlGaAs and Si based devices failed to demonstrate its commercial viability. This was due in large measure to the low activation energies of the formed complexes. Recent studies of dopant passivation in long wavelength (0.98 - 1.55m) materials suggested that for the appropriate choice of dopants much higher activation energies can be obtained. This effort studied the formation of these complexes in InP, This material is extensively used in optoelectronics, i.e., lasers, modulators and detectors. The experimental techniques were general to the extent that the results can be applied to other areas such as sensor technology, photovoltaics and to other material systems. The activation energies for the complexes have been determined and are reported in the scientific literature. The hydrogenation process has been shown by us to have a profound effect on the electronic structure of the materials and was thoroughly investigated. The information obtained will be useful in assessing the long term reliability of device structures fabricated using this phenomenon and in determining new device functionalities