Impact of band to band tunneling in In0.53Ga0.47As tunnel diodes on the deep level transient spectra

Abstract

Peculiar features of the deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements on p + - i - n + In0.53Ga0.47As tunnel diodes are explained. It is shown that due to the high doping of the tunnel diodes and the large band to band tunneling conductance under reverse bias, the DLTS spectrum is prone to erroneous interpretations. We discuss a procedure to identify the cause. In the tunnel diodes, a donor-like hole trap (H1) associated with a point defect, with an activation energy of EV + 0.09 eV and a capture cross-section of (2.4 ± 1) × 10-19 cm2, is identified. In addition to the thermal emission, we report the observation of tunneling emission of holes from the H1 trap.